USPTO Gives Microsoft Credit for Lotus' Homework

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 /. discussion), the USPTO came up empty after instead going with the more-upscale Google Scholar and patent databases for its search effort. Can we count on Ozzie to do-the-right-thing and give the USPTO a heads-up?"