A Patent Tree Grows In Seattle 37
theodp writes "Among the featured attractions for the kids at the just-opened $10 million Bezos Center for Innovation in the $60 million Museum of History & Industry in Seattle is a 'Patent Tree'. The museum opening marks the end of a week for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos that saw his personal and managerial life put on display with the release of an excerpt from The Everything Store, a new book by Brad Stone, who reveals how he found Bezos's long-lost biological father."
Indoctrinate (Score:1)
Indoctrinate early and often. It helps keep discussions from being logical, which in turn helps stop people from realizing when the side of an issue they were led to believe in is designed to make their life worse for the benefit of others.
Re: (Score:2)
This is just what happens from lazy editors/contributors on the weekends when they phone it in based on a one from column A, one from column B summary.
Might as well be another 'President Lincoln's Doctor's Dog' episode.
Re: (Score:3)
It would be okay if it weren't for the additional 5 days of weekend /. editors have every week.
"Patent Trees" (2013) (Score:2)
With apologies to Joyce Kilmer: [wikipedia.org]
"Patent Trees" (2013)
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a patent tree.
A patent tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A patent tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A patent tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only the Bezos Center for Innovation [mohai.org] can make a patent tree.
Hi Theodp (Score:1)
Customers with purchase histories similar to yours, and those who looked up Joyce Kilmer: [wikipedia.org] also considered this product! [amazon.com]
Re: (Score:2)
That's lovely. Where's my patented copper nail?
Cut it down, cut it down! (Score:2)
"Indeed, as I learned, there were on the planet where the little prince lived -- as on all planets -- good plants and bad plants. In consequence, there were good seeds from good plants, and bad seeds from bad plants. But seeds are invisible. They sleep deep in the heart of the earth's darkness, until some one among them is seized with the desire to awaken. Then this little seed will stretch itself and begin -- timidly at first -- to push a charming little sprig inoffensively upward toward the sun. If it is
One click (Score:4, Insightful)
So the guy who pretty much sparked off the patent arms race with his "one click" patent non-sense is now building a shrine to his climb up the ladder of success, which largely consisted of him stomping on the fingers of everyone he climbed over. And it's in Seattle no less, pretty much the city that bathes itself in Irony showers daily.
Beautiful symmetry. Brings a tear to my eye.
Re: (Score:3)
In computers, in the 50s and 60s people were trying to patent computer instructions.
In the 80s, we have stuff like this story where IBM nearly destroyed Sun with patents [osnews.com]. And by that time they were already experienced.
That might not even be the worst, in the 70s there were stories of companies starting fires in each other's warehouses, etc. (see Soul of a New Machine for a sou
Re: (Score:2)
And it's in Seattle no less, pretty much the city that bathes itself in Irony showers daily.
No no, You're thinking of Silicon Valley, Seattle is different... Yeah, its by the sea and we also put an end to the bathing in the 80's, but it doesn't rain irony here. What you're thinking of is something else: That first stretch of the morning, arms held high... it's the fog of irony that rolls forth.
Wasn't that in the Garden of Eden? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
This tree has one stream of patents moving upwards to where all patents are accepted equally and one stream of patents moving downwards where they will burn forever, never to see the light of day again.
You decide which is good and which is evil.
doesnt look like a tree (Score:1)
its just some random thing you pop into, read like 2 things and leave, oh I get it now leave, tree, it all make since now
BS (Score:1)
For every single individual driven to the point of self-destruction to achieve an objective, there are thousands who are not successful possessing the same level and degree of drive. Not everyone is in the right place, at the right time, for the right reason.
The truth is, sensationalized stories that put one man upon a pedestal over the thousands that got him there are the worst kind of fascist, industrialist tripe; this is childish aggrandizement in the extreme. You will find amongst these stories there
A very dangerous tree (Score:2)
They should call it Anchar [poetryloverspage.com]
Poison Patent Tree (Score:5, Interesting)
Bezos is synonymous with bad patents in my mind... all because of his one-click patent which makes a mockery of the entire patent system and undermines any validity his other patents might have.
To me a patent means that someone with money and power has staked out an area in the playground that he will bully others to protect... it has less and less to do with innovation.
Re: (Score:2)
Bezos is synonymous with bad patents in my mind... all because of his one-click patent which makes a mockery of the entire patent system and undermines any validity his other patents might have.
One-click is actually a great counterexample of your point - despite private bounties being placed on prior art [nytimes.com], an EFF campaign seeking prior art [eff.org], and four years of reexamination that confirmed patentability [patentlyo.com], people still bring it up as if it were a "mockery of the entire patent system". Clearly ,that's not because the patent is invalid or obvious, since despite all of those efforts, no one has ever been able to show that - rather, it's because of the millions of dollars that have been spending in a propag [krajec.com]
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One-click is actually a great counterexample of your point - despite private bounties being placed on prior art, an EFF campaign seeking prior art, and four years of reexamination that confirmed patentability, people still bring it up as if it were a "mockery of the entire patent system".
The fact that the "one-click" patent may actually be a legally valid patent is exactly what makes it a "mockery of the entire patent system". A reasonable patent system (were such a thing not a logical impossibility) would exclude such patents. If ours does not, that just reaffirms how unreasonable the system is.
Re: (Score:2)
One-click is actually a great counterexample of your point - despite private bounties being placed on prior art, an EFF campaign seeking prior art, and four years of reexamination that confirmed patentability, people still bring it up as if it were a "mockery of the entire patent system".
The fact that the "one-click" patent may actually be a legally valid patent is exactly what makes it a "mockery of the entire patent system". A reasonable patent system (were such a thing not a logical impossibility) would exclude such patents. If ours does not, that just reaffirms how unreasonable the system is.
On what grounds would a "reasonable patent system" exclude it? It hasn't been shown to be anticipated or obvious in view of prior art, in spite of all of the efforts that have been thrown at it, so those wouldn't be reasonable grounds. Because it's related to computers? Because it's related to business? Is it reasonable to exclude an entire industry from patentability, even if their inventions are new and nonobvious? And if so, where do you define the boundaries of that industry: if you say business methods
Re: (Score:1)
On what grounds would a "reasonable patent system" exclude it? It hasn't been shown to be anticipated or obvious in view of prior art, in spite of all of the efforts that have been thrown at it, so those wouldn't be reasonable grounds...
Because we were using the functionality for years before that. Just because there is no prior patent, does not mean that there is no prior art.
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On what grounds would a "reasonable patent system" exclude it? It hasn't been shown to be anticipated or obvious in view of prior art, in spite of all of the efforts that have been thrown at it, so those wouldn't be reasonable grounds...
Because we were using the functionality for years before that. Just because there is no prior patent, does not mean that there is no prior art.
You may be under a misconception that only a prior patent counts as prior art to invalidate a patent - that's not true. Any publication (patent, thesis, advertisement, white paper, functional spec, internet post, etc.) or any product counts as prior art and can be used to show the patent is not new or is obvious. And despite thousands of dollars in reward money for finding proof, none was found - no publications, no piece of software using the functionality, nothing.
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... And despite thousands of dollars in reward money for finding proof, none was found - no publications, no piece of software using the functionality, nothing.
Maybe there is something about the patent that we don't know about. What about it makes it different from prior common methods?
Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos (Score:1)
They were all either adopted or step-sons. I suspect that'll be grist for the annoying pop psychologists but I kinda find that angle interesting myself.
Re: (Score:2)
Steve Jobs is from California and Larry Ellison is from Chicago.
On the other hand, Bill Gates, another Seattle tech company founder and CEO, was raised by doting (and extraordinarily well connnected) natural parents.
Fight evil with evil (Score:2)
"Hello, Monsanto, have you ever heard of a Round Up Ready patent tree? What's that? Yes, I was thinking the registered trademark symbol when I said Round Up. But about that tree... Yes, a patent tree. You haven't? Great. In that case, could I get the name of a Seattle Round Up distributor?"
Bezo is Scrooge McDuck (Score:2)
Since it is no longer in fashion to pay artists to paint him as a heroic figure on a horse like Napoleon, or sculptors for larger then life marble busts so he can be a pretend emperor, he has a "patent tree". It's a substitute for a huge model of his penis.
So McDuck is funny, and even though he inevitably screws up because of this greed, he always realizes his folly and thi
After looking at the pic... (Score:2)
I still don't know what a "patent tree" is.