IBM Wants Patent On Finding Areas Lacking Patents 151
theodp writes "It sounds like a goof — especially coming from a company that pledged to raise the bar on patent quality — but the USPTO last week disclosed that IBM is seeking a patent for Methodologies and Analytics Tools for Identifying White Space Opportunities in a Given Industry, which Big Blue explains allows one 'to maximize the value of its IP by investigating and identifying areas of relevant patent 'white space' in an industry, where white space is a term generally used to designate one or more technical fields in which little or no IP may exist,' and filling those voids with the creation of additional IP."
!=Innovation (Score:2, Informative)
Re:patent patents! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:The ultimate recursion... (Score:3, Informative)
We already have programs that write themselves (within limits). They are rather useful in the field of AI.
Re:WRONG. (Score:2, Informative)
As to your second point, you're correct that you don't need a working model or prototype of your product to obtain a patent. You do, however, have to have the invention 'reduced to practice' - i.e. someone with the right resources could implement your invention given what you've described in the application.