Bezos Patents Information Exchange

theodp writes "Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was handed a patent Tuesday for Information exchange between users of different web pages. Tough to tell what exactly it might cover ('various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention'), although RSS Newsreaders, TrackBacks, and Google News come to mind. Elements of Bezos' invention may evoke a sense of deja vu in those who used Third Voice or the Annotation Engine."

deja vu indeed

[ChipMonk]

Is it time to re-institute the boycott?

All you have to do is prove Prior Art

[WillAffleckUW]

and then hire about 5000 very well paid lawyers ...

if you want to dispute the Patent.

Maybe we should admit that the software Patent concept is just wrong?

Abstract indeed.

[ShaniaTwain]

Sounds suspiciously like Wikipedia to me.

or like del.icio.us [del.icio.us] or any other tag based link manager.

Re:Holy...

[Paleomacus]

Also, the information exchange system allows the user to enter information that will be displayed to other users who access related web pages.

Sounds like he patented Slashdot and any kind of forum system.

Bezos is a PR Whore

[hoka]

I followed Bezos freshmen year for an research writing class since I was researching Tech Patent law. I can safely say that Bezos is just a pure PR whore when it comes to patents, his current patents have various issues and are very over-generalized. I've yet to fully read through this one but it appears no different. When he originally took heat he started a group to "revolutionize" the tech patent industry, where people who find prior art to bad patents would be rewarded. Of course he put up Amazons patents up for prize money, and when people started to come in with information as prior art, he claimed that they were "too different" and shut down completely. The contact information and phone number has been obsolete/cut off for years.

Teletypes

[Anonymous Coward]

I mean, Bezos is a nice guy and all, but we used to do an equivalent thing with teletypes in the 1960's, for crying out loud. Geez, the USPO sucks.

Actually...

[gbulmash]

It sounds more like their various recommendations lists, like the "So you'd like to..." and "listmania", where users create thematic lists of products, each product being represented by a web page. Of course, because this is a patent, they want to make it as overly broad as possible so someone can't change the page background from white to light grey and say that grey pages aren't within the scope of the patent.

More to the point, though, I seem to recall on numerous occasiona that Bezos has argued against certain types of patents and for patent reform. His justification for most of these patents is to get the patent filed before someone else does and then tries to extort Amazon. Essentially, he claims to be filing as a defensive measure, not offensive.

I could have a very bad memory, but except for the "one-click" patent, I can't recall another patent Amazon has actively enforced.

- Greg

Things this might or might not apply to...

[Anonymous Coward]

...since the wording is so general (not particularly exhaustive or definitive):

Passport.net
Google (Ads)
Any webring
Certain social networks/blogs

I think the lawyers are going to have a field day with this one.

boycott software patents

[ylikone]

everybody start violating them and completely ignoring them. they can't sue everybody. right?

The USPO....

[going_the_2Rpi_way]

continues to be completely out to lunch. What a waste of everyones time. Someone really has to sort them out. The patents they issue are neither novel (the 'prior art' condition, for one is a farce) nor enforceable. And what about when a couple of companies gang up to extend a patent well beyond it's expiration date (see http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000AF01 8-31CA-1FFB-B1CA83414B7F0000 [sciam.com]) I mean either issue meaningful, enforceable patents that are less specious (and hence harder targets for legal challenges) or just call a spade a spade: the bigger guys get to keep their ideas while the new kids are S.O.L. I urge anyone who thinks I'm exagerating to take a look periodically at the "Staking Claims" columns in SciAm. Better yet, talk to someone who works at the USPO.

Patent Public Review

[erroneus]

I think before patents are granted, the process needs one more step added to it. PUBLIC REVIEW. If the public can find prior art or can somehow vote that it is too obvious, cannot be created or is in some way "bullshit" then the public should be able to reject the application before it is put into place.

The Burden of Proof is on Examiner ...

[drphil]

Just an aside:
I took a two hour patent tutorial today on Patent Prosecution. One thing I didn't realize is that the burden of proof is on the Examiner to prove why an application shouldn't be a patent - not on the inventor to prove why it should be a patent. The laws govening why something shouldn't be a patent are actually quite simple - however interpretation of these laws have kept patent lawyers happy for many years.

Re:The Burden of Proof is on Examiner ...

[Eminence]

the burden of proof is on the Examiner to prove why an application shouldn't be a patent

From the website:
Primary Examiner: Meky; Moustafa M.

Pity we don't have e-mail to Mr. Moustafa M. Meky. But maybe this is a way of thwarting a bit this true flood of stupid patents - make negative celebrities of Examiners who approved the stupidest patents, so that others would be more careful?

do not give prior art to bad patents

[cahiha]

Of course he put up Amazons patents up for prize money, and when people started to come in with information as prior art, he claimed that they were "too different" and shut down completely. The contact information and phone number has been obsolete/cut off for years.

Telling people who are filing bad patents about prior art only makes it easier for them to amend their patents in ways that makes it harder to fight them later.

Do not supply prior art information to people filing bad patents.