Software Installation/Update via Internet Patented

RKBA writes "My wife just handed me an article from the Wednesday, October 22, 2003 issue of the Wall Street Journal about a tiny Austin, TX company called Bluecurrent that has been awarded patent No. 6,636,857 covering the Internet installation of any software or settings on new computers. The patent was granted by the USPTO on October 21, 2003. It will be interesting to see if it can be enforced. I think it's time for someone to file a patent on Earth, Fire, and Water. ;-)"

It's official

[Anonymous Coward]

It's official. There is no God, the madness will never end. Kill me now.

Wind?

[toeofdestiny]

I think it's time for someone to file a patent on Earth, Fire, and Water. ;-)

Wind is already patented?

Oh no!

[Karl Cocknozzle]

I think it's time for someone to file a patent on Earth, Fire, and Water.

...Just keep them away from Earth, Wind, and Fire--that's all I ask!

has anyone patented this:

[Anonymous Coward]

multiple computers connected by digital communications?

Yeah, and

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm gonna patent Air and Spirit.

Re:Wind?

[kfg]

They were just afraid to violate the IP on "Earth, Wind & Fire."

KFG

Re:It's official

[Anonymous Coward]

> It's official. There is no God, the madness will never end. Kill me now.

well, we're gonna have a hard time /.ing you if you don't give us your IP...

Re:Wind?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not sure about Wind, but SCO seems to have the exclusive rights to hot air....

Re:Hehe

[mgs1000]

I'm sure they are just trying to cash in on the fact that IE will automatically try to download the Flash plugin.

Re:RTFA!

[kfg]

Ah yes, patenting ftp and email to store your own files is sooooooooo much better.

KFG

Re:It Gets Worse

[CrowScape]

If they can enforce it they'll make a mint from all those spam/pr0n sites that try to change your homepage settings when you accidentally visit them.

Re:It Gets Worse

[jeffkjo1]

Oh yea, accidentally, I bet.

Obvious?

[redgopher]

I think it's time for someone to file a patent on Earth, Fire, and Water

With your powers combined, I am Captain Patent!!

Re:RTFA!

[Josh Booth]

Of course not, you just have to do a quick "rm -rf ~/.*" before you send your home directory to the backup computer. Just remember to "mv ~/.porn ~/porn" before you do that.

MOD PARENT UP!

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

well, we're gonna have a hard time /.ing you if you don't give us your IP...

Very nice pun, in a story about patents :)

Are patent applications made out of hemp?

[Anonymous Coward]

Cause the USPTO employees must be smokin it up!

No, I'm New Here

[New Here]

No, I'm New Here

In related news..

[Ancil]

"..intends to seek royalties of $10 to $25 for each time a new computer has software or other settings updated over the Web."

This is going to cost the author of Blaster a lot of money.

Re:RTFA!

[nomadic]

I wish /.ers would check their facts before screaming how the sky is going to fall on our heads every time the USPTO grants a patent.

It's a catch-22--if they did that, then they wouldn't be /.ers.

Re:Obvious?

[Anonymous Coward]

With your powers combined, I am Captain Patent!!

You mean...
With your patents combined, I 0wn Captain Planet

Re:Is this covered?

[MillionthMonkey]

As I said in my last post on the subject, the USPTO and their overlords need large doses of antipsychotics.

I, for one, welcome our new psychotic undermedicated patent-holding Texan overlords.

[ducks]

Re:It Gets Worse

[whereiswaldo]

Likely we will see RIAA style suits instead.

You mean like 12 year olds getting sued for using Windows update?

All Remote Backup software is prior art

[itsybitsy]

Any backup software that allows someone to backup part or all of their system including settings and preferences is prior art for this patent.

Also, this is highly obvious. Patents are supposed to be non-obvious.

The problem is that English is such a powerful and flexible language that there are many ways to describe the same technique. While there are many ways to describe it the base method of utilizing it is the same.

1. Save your data to remote computer or alternate disk drive.
2. Do something that could loose data on original computer.
3. Restore data.
4. Be happy (if restore worked).

If only people patent examiners would learn the nature of software, computer technology and complex equilivant meanings in English. Maybe then we'd be spared this.

Re:It's official

[LegionX]

to quote from famous movie: "I sue dead people"

Re:Trademarked already

[OwnedByTwoCats]

Greeks, Romans and many other classical/pre-renaissance cultures believed that there were only four elements: EARTH, WIND, FIRE and WATER.

Modern science is now much more advanced, and clearly states that there are four phases of matter: solid, gasseous, plasma, and liquid.