bosson - Slashdot User

US PTO Gives Microsoft Credit For Lotus's Homework 172

Posted by kdawson on Friday July 24, 2009 @12:12PM from the inhouse-prior-art dept.

theodp writes "On Tuesday, the USPTO granted Microsoft a patent for 'Email Emotiflags' despite ample evidence of a circa-1996 Lotus Notes precedent called Mood Stamps — sender-chosen emoticons that appear next to inbox messages. Among those seemingly aware of the existence of Mood Stamps is Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie, who appears to have fielded questions about the feature while at Lotus. While simply Googling for 'Email Emotiflags' would have turned up evidence of this prior art (including a Slashdot discussion), the USPTO came up empty after instead going with the more-upscale Google Scholar and patent databases for its search effort. Think we can count on Ozzie to do the right thing and give the USPTO a heads-up?"

Sony Files Patent On "Any-Object" Motion Control 69

Posted by Soulskill on Monday July 06, 2009 @03:15PM from the +1-car-keys-of-smiting dept.

Oracle Goddess writes "Sony filed a patent for a system where a camera can dynamically map any real world object for use in a video game. The patent states that the objects 'include items such as coffee mugs, drinking glasses, books, bottles, etc.' While these are given as examples, the object mapping system is not limited to those objects; it can identify any three dimensional object. The system looks similar to Microsoft's Project Natal, but instead of driving with an imaginary steering wheel, players can use an everyday item like a plate. Although this may seem a bit silly at first, the eventual uses for such a system could be wide-ranging and lead to novel and useful controllers for all sorts of systems and applications."

Amazon Wants Patent For Inserting Ads Into Books 219

Posted by Soulskill on Friday July 03, 2009 @08:02PM from the it-was-the-best-of-times,-it-was-comcastic dept.

theodp writes "Three Amazon inventors set out to correct what they felt was a real problem: that 'out-of-print or rare books ... typically do not include advertisements ... the content is fixed and, therefore, has not been adapted to modern marketing.' Their solution is spelled out in newly-disclosed Amazon patent applications for On-Demand Generating E-Book Content with Advertising and Incorporating Advertising in On-Demand Generated Content. From the patent apps, here's what the future of reading may look like: 'For instance, if a restaurant is described on page 12, [then the advertising page], either on page 11 or page 13, may include advertisements about restaurants, wine, food, etc., which are related to restaurants and dining.' So, what would a delightfully-tacky-yet-unrefined Hooters ad do for your Hemingway experience?"

Linux Patch Clears the Air For Use of Microsoft's FAT Filesystem 272

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Thursday July 02, 2009 @10:02AM from the anything-you-can-do-i-can-do-better dept.

Ars Technica is reporting that a new kernel patch may provide a workaround to allow use of Microsoft's FAT file system on Linux without paying licensing fees. "Andrew Tridgell, one of the lead developers behind the Samba project, published a patch last week that will alter the behavior of the Linux FAT implementation so that it will not generate both short and long filenames. In situations where the total filename fits within the 11-character limit, the filesystem will generate only a short name. When the filename exceeds that length, it will only generate a long name and will populate the short name value with 11 invalid characters so that it is ignored by the operating system."

Microsoft Seeking Hot-Or-Not Patent 135

Posted by kdawson on Sunday June 14, 2009 @02:12AM from the getting-colder dept.

theodp writes "In its just-disclosed patent application for the Online Personal Appearance Advisor, Microsoft describes the 'invention' of its three Microsoft Research employees in these words: 'The contributor uploads self images for viewing and rating (or voting) by viewers who choose provide an opinion on different fashion and/or cosmetic looks of the contributor.' So what do you think — is Microsoft's invention really Hot or Not?"

Canada Rejects Business Method Patents 68

Posted by timothy on Wednesday June 10, 2009 @05:10PM from the as-ought-we-all dept.

"Canadian Patent Appeal Board Rules Against Business Method Patents," says a new post from Michael Geist; Lorien_the_first_one writes "Looks like the US courts could face some peer pressure," and supplies this excerpt: "[T]he panel delivered very strong language rejecting the mere possibility of business method patents under Canadian law. The panel noted that 'since patenting business methods would involve a radical departure from the traditional patent regime, and since the patentability of such methods is a highly contentious matter, clear and unequivocal legislation is required for business methods to be patentable.' ... In applying that analysis to the Amazon.com one-click patent, the panel concluded that 'concepts or rules for the more efficient conduct of online ordering, are methods of doing business. Even if these concepts or rules are novel, ingenious and useful, they are still unpatentable because they are business methods.'"

Google Chrome's Inclusion of FFMpeg Vs. the LGPL 245

Posted by timothy on Sunday June 07, 2009 @07:54PM from the to-make-one's-head-spin dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Google has recently added FFMpeg to Chrome to better support HTML5's video element. FFMpeg is licensed under LGPL 2.1, which states that 'if a patent license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Library by all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to refrain entirely from distribution of the Library.' Google admits to having obtained a patent license for their use, but still claims they are not violating LGPL. Among the confused we find Håkon Wium Lie and Miguel de Icaza, who wonders what FSF might say. Google doesn't feel like asking FSF for clarification."

Comment Gartner helps EU redefine open standards (Score 5, Informative) 311

by bosson on Friday May 15, 2009 @09:25AM (#27965131) Attached to: Secret EU Open Source Migration Study Leaked

Gartner also made the case that EU governments should not abandon open standards, but rather redefine open standards by removing royalty free use. Thats basically tossing the success story of the Internet out the window and still using it as branding name for the new EIFv2 "European Interoperability Framework" See EU-commission pages at: http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/7728 and a post about it here: http://bosson.blogspot.com/2009/05/stealing-free-from-open-standards.html

Submission + - Two standards - more choice, or less?

Submitted by

pieterh

on Wednesday June 27, 2007 @07:40AM

pieterh writes: "There's a fierce argument raging about whether the world needs a single document standard (ISO26300), or two. On the one hand, advocates of Microsoft's 'Office Open XML' (aka OOXML) format say that two standards means more choice for consumers. On the other hand, groups like the FFII argue that two standards for documents is not really about consumer choice, and more about maintaining Microsoft's office monopoly. There has also been harsh criticism of Microsoft's format, a petition that has raised 10,000 signatures in a week, and the promise of a cash prize in the fight against OOXML."

Comment Re:Microsoft doesn't matter (Score 1) 626

by bosson on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @09:36AM (#19129021) Attached to: Why Microsoft Won't List Claimed Patent Violations

What about this patent for XML: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,3920 0380,00.htm This is whats going to happen sooner or later too... MS patents also cover stuff like logic operators and mouse-clicks.

EU Software Patent Directive Getting Hot 232

Posted by CowboyNeal on Saturday July 02, 2005 @11:51AM from the so-take-off-all-your-clothes dept.

zoobab writes "Next wednesday, on the 6th July, the European Parliament will have the last chance to prevent US-style software patents in the EU. If the Parliament fails to reach 367 votes for the key amendments, then the Council directive will legalize business methods and software patents. Yesterday, many political groups have tabled amendments to patch the Council text. A demonstration online is running with currently 2400 websites shutting down until the vote. A physical demonstration is also planned in Strasbourg on next tuesday the 5th of July."

Europeans, Tweak Your Representatives On Patents 234

Posted by timothy on Wednesday June 02, 2004 @04:19AM from the pull-their-noses-gently dept.

zoobab writes "The FFII is launching a call for action to push European candidates to answer questions on Software Patents. Alan Cox has also written a open letter in which he points out that those European elections are an opportunity for each citizen to have the choice and to make the politicians listen. Get the questionnaire and send it to the candidates of your country!"

Demonstation against Software Patents in Brussels 10

Posted by timothy on Saturday April 26, 2003 @01:53PM from the and-grab-me-some-chocolates-plz dept.

ZooBaB writes "On May 8 morning in European Parliament in Brussels, innovative software companies such as MySQL, Galeco, Ilog, Opera ... will gather with Richard Stallman and MEPs from the Greens-efa Group to voice their concerns on the implications of software patents on SMEs. Eurolinux calls on software developers, software companies, and all those who support copyright protection for software to come in Brussels and to participate to a demonstration at Place du Luxembourg."

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