IBM Wants Patent For Regex SSN Validation 281
theodp writes "What do you get when you combine IBM contributors with the Dojo Foundation? A patent for Real-Time Validation of Text Input Fields Using Regular Expression Evaluation During Text Entry, assuming the newly-disclosed Big Blue patent application passes muster with the USPTO. IBM explains that the invention of four IBMers addresses a 'persistent problem that plagues Web form fields' — e.g., 'a social security number can be entered with or without dashes.' A non-legalese description of IBM's patent-pending invention can be found in The Official Dojo Documentation. While IBM has formed a Strategic Partnership With the Dojo Foundation which may protect one from a patent infringement lawsuit over validating phone numbers, concerns have been voiced over an exception clause in IBM's open source pledge."
What bullshit? (Score:5, Insightful)
What is this buillshit? "A persistent problem is dashes in SSNs"???
How fucking hard is it to strip non-numeric characters from a string?
I cannot believe there could be such programmer incompetence; no, it has to be some managerial cluelessness and hard-headness.
As a programmer at a federal agency that uses Perl (Score:3, Insightful)
We parse SSNs all day long. I think WE may have prior art.
Re:Even bigger problem (Score:4, Insightful)
put a damned example on your site, like this: nnn-nn-nnnn
You can put as many examples on your site as you want but your users will still find a way to fuck it up. You need code that checks for this and either corrects their stupidity or kicks it back and makes them re-enter it.
phone numbers too (Score:3, Insightful)
I run into this problem with entering phone numbers into web forms. Some want them as xxxxxxxxxx, some as xxx-xxx-xxxx, some as (xxx)xxx-xxxx, and even other weirdness. Some sites take whatever I put in and mold it to their desired format; others tell me my input is invalid and make me enter it again (some even tell me the desired format). Some sites actually break it up into three input fields with appropriate limits on the number of characters.
I've seen similar cases with SSNs.
It's pretty obvious that some sites have no trouble parsing the input data and making it fit what's expected. How is this a novel concept to be patented?
Full Text (Score:1, Insightful)
A persistent problem that plagues Web form fields is the proper formatting of data into text fields. A disconnect often exists between a developer and a user as to the proper or an acceptable format for a specific text field. For example, a social security number can be entered with or without dashes.
They aren't trying to fix some nefarious social security number formatting issue.
Completely biased summary.
Morons.
Re:Prior Art so Prior It Hurts (Score:5, Insightful)
as long as he doesn't sue anyone over the patent no puppies have been harmed.
And when the company gets bought out and the puppy-torturing plans get put into action by the new owners, and he screams, "But I didn't mean this to happen!" he will not be forgiven.
Re:What bullshit? (Score:2, Insightful)
I still see the old "1 object(s) processed" (in multiple forms, of course). How hard can it be?
"%d object%s processed", num, num == 1 ? "" : "s"
I even see the odd "1 objects processed" every now and again. How hard can it be?!
I see these things on the PS3 and my blood boils - with the price of the hardware and the games, how can they justify this incompetence? How can a usability tester pass this "object(s)" non-word? Do they also talk like that? "I take two bus or buses to get to work".
Re:Real time is the key claim (Score:3, Insightful)
My understanding is that the onChange event doesn't fire until the input field has lost focus. That means that it wouldn't support character-by-character validation.
Re:Prior Art so Prior It Hurts (Score:3, Insightful)
really, i'm not trying to defend IBM here, but you realize that the prior art you list at regexlib.com fails *Claim 1* of the actual patent application don't you?
the patent claims that the specific character(s) that breaks the regex is flagged. which the method at regexlib.com (as well as your other examples) does not do.
you recognized that the patent also claims real-time checking, but passed that off as trivial. but if either or both of these differences are really trivial where are all the examples of this being done?
Re:Prior Art so Prior It Hurts (Score:3, Insightful)
Your bias is showing.
Says the guy with the .sig "The patent system. The whole edifice is based on handwaving."
You're right about one thing. A patent != invention. A patent is an exclusive property right in an invention. But I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. I am not "assuming" that they are the same thing. I am well aware of how they are related. For example, the title of 35 U.S.C. s. 101 is "Inventions Patentable." The text is "Whosoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title." A patentable invention is one that is novel (see s. 102), non-obvious (see s. 103) and useful (from s. 101).
Now, as for your patent search, the fact that a patent has the word "software" somewhere does not make it a "software patent." Most patents will mention software somewhere if they have anything to do with technology. And since I doubt you have read and analyzed all those claims, your blanket statement that most of them are obvious looks a lot like "handwaving." If you were just going off of the titles, you need to learn how patents work. It's fine to think the system is broken, but understand it before you complain about it. Here's a pretty good primer [jw.com] one of our partners wrote. You ought to read it, even if you think you understand patents (he made me read it when I started, despite the fact that I was already a registered patent agent, and I learned some things). Remember, if you're going to go crusading, you should at least know what you're fighting against.
Re:What if We Assume They *Are* Idiots? (Score:1, Insightful)
$2,000 site license. I call bullsh**. Try $50,000 per core + 18% support contract + professional services at $250 an hour 3 day minimum to come in and show you how to use the tool, not to mention the cost of new servers, SAN space, IBM Websphere to run the Websphere Enterprise SSN Dash Extractor, XD to manage the Websphere cluster, etc.,. BLEH!!! And let's also remember that you'll need to decide on which brand Extractor you will use the Websphere branded version, the Filenet version, or the Lotus version none of which can be used with the other system unless a separate license is purchased. :)