USPTO Issues Provisional Storyline Patent

cheesedog writes "The USPTO will issue the first storyline patent in history today, with two others following in the next few months. Right to Create points out that this was anticipated several months ago in a story by Richard Stallman published in the The Guardian, UK. With the publication of this not-yet-granted patent, its author can begin requiring licensing fees for anyone whose activities might fall within its claims, including book authors, movie studies, television studios and broadcasters, etc. The claims appear to cover the literary elements of a story involving an ambitious high school student who applies for entrance to MIT and prays to remain sleeping until the acceptance letter comes, which doesn't happen for another 30 years."

USPTO Broken

RMS: If patent law had been applied to novels in the 1880s, great books would not have been written.

USPTO: Ooh, good idea!

Seriously, the US patent system is very broken, and it appears they are moving in a direction to expand, rather than contract, the amount of things that are patentable. They clearly have no care for whether the patents they grant are stifling innovation. Action is needed to reverse this, but I doubt we'll see it while Bush is still in power.

Re:USPTO Broken

You think that's bad, wait until you realize that this means that books written outside the US will be banned inside the US because the represent patent infringement.

The US is going to start banning books

I wonder how they're going to dispose of confiscated books, hmm? Perhaps burning them would be an efficient and effective way to destroy them.

Yes, of course, the US must confiscate and burn all banned books! Because this is what capitalistic democracies do to protect their citizens.

How many rights does a democracy have to curtail or eliminate before it ceases to be a democracy?

Think I'm overreacting? Then think of all the rediculous things that software patents have allowed and then apply that to BOOKS.

Re:USPTO Broken

At least porn will be safe, there is no story lines in those :)

Re:USPTO Broken

Pornography is art! YOU CAN'T BAN ART! *shakes his fist to the sky*

Re:USPTO Broken

I usually shake my fist about halfway down to the ground.

Re:USPTO Broken

They'll patent various combinations of *ehrrrm* positions as an invention to overcome "erectile difficulties due to various psychological barriers e.g. stress, performance demands, wolf date...."

No my friend, not even porn is safe from these fiends.

Re:USPTO Broken

I find your lack of faith disturbing, Citizen-Unit.

Re:USPTO Broken

A constitutional republic is three Christian fundamentalists and a homosexual deciding on who can marry.

Re:USPTO Broken

By referring to the "the US' banned books list," you imply that the Federal government has a master list of books that are disallowed in the the United States. However, it's really a list of books that have been removed in very specific, local contexts, usually school libraries. If the US patents on storylines were enforced, it would be much more repressive than any current banning.

Re:USPTO Broken

How many rights does a democracy have to curtail or eliminate before it ceases to be a democracy?

Wait a second... Since when does democracy (or majority rule, or representative rule) imply individual rights?

Democracy is simply the modern justification for power (the "right" to initiate force as a means to an end). Democracy does not, in any way, remove the element of power from government. 500 years ago, rulers justified themselves by claiming they were following god's orders. Today, rulers justify themselves by claiming they are following the majority's orders. Even when they are, does it really justify coercion? Don't be afraid to ask that question.

Democracy is still government, and government is still founded on the principle of coercion. Democracy, monarchy, republic, tyranny... the core principle of any government is identical. Government is defined by its unique "right" to initiate force as a means to an end; anyone else who does so is a criminal. How they achieved that "right" is simply irrelevant to the definition of government.

Democracy is not immune to oppression. It is still impossible to curtail power. If power could be contained, then it wouldn't be power, would it? How can the "right" to initiate force possibly be contained? Only by eliminating it -- and that is not going to happen any time soon.

Personally, I say the type of government doesn't matter worth a damn; what matters is the level of respect a government has for individual freedom. If a society is more free living under the rule of a monarchy than the rule of a democracy, then I say the monarchy is more ethical and just, and you're damn right I'd rather live there.

Re:USPTO Broken

> Can you imagine anyone scanning umpteen zillion unpublished short stories and novels for prior art? Whew.

Oh puhleeese. These bozos (the USPTO) couldn't find prior art if somebody filed a patent for fire fer chrissake.

Hey ...

Could be worse [bbc.co.uk].

Re:Hey ...

"To obtain the patent [on a wheel] the applicant must make a declaration that they are the inventor."

Haven't these guys ever heard of reinventing the wheel? Sheesh.

Re:USPTO Broken

There never was a prior art search.
First of all lets clairify what a provisional patent is... It's not a patent and does not hold the same teeth as a patent does. Simply put, it gives you the right to put Patent Pending on some technology that you are developing. In addition, if you apply for a patent in a years time from time of the filing of the provisional patent, the effective date of the patent (assuming it's approved... not all patents are) is the date of provisional patent filing. Oh, the date of provisional patent filing is the date you drop it off at the post office and send it via registered mail.
So, today you could write up a provisional patent document (not as formal as an actual patent application but it helps to keep it formal if you are going after the patent), enclose a check for $100.00 if you are an individual, send it via registered mail (not fedex, ups, but usps) and BAM, Patent Pending.
It doesn't mean you are going to get the patent. It's meant for smaller inventors to potentially apply for patents and decide if they want to invest the $10,000 it typically takes to possibly get a patent. The gives you protection of prior art no matter what so some company can't patent the technology even if you decide not to pursue a patent (as the provisional patent application counts as prior art and assuming the technology is "new and novel"). If you do decide to pursue a patent the effective date of the patent is the date you sent it via registered mail.

Re:USPTO Broken

Action is needed to reverse this, but I doubt we'll see it while Bush is still in power.

I'm not a Bush fan in the slightest, but I don't see it being the kind of thing a Democrat president would give a crap about, either. Whoever is president when some ridiculously hyped movie gets its opening delayed by litigation will be the president to fight it.

Blame the voters.

>> Action is needed to reverse this, but I doubt we'll
>> see it while Bush is still in power.
>
> I'm not a Bush fan in the slightest, but I don't see it
> being the kind of thing a Democrat president would give
> a crap about, either.

So long, and thanks for all the fish — Douglas Adams:

"On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."

"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."

"I did," said ford. "It is."

"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"

"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."

"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"

"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."

"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"

"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in."

Re:USPTO Broken

I'm going to go back to Jonathan Swift here, in Gulliver's Travels. He claimed that the Yahoos, who were these little dirty, simian versions of humans with no intellect and nothing but greed, hatred, disease and guile, had lawyers. One yahoo found a shiny rock. Another yahoo came and tried to take it away from him. Struggle insues. 3rd yahoo comes in and takes it away from both of them (that's the lawyer).

Swift would've positively loved this one.

But anyway, I have to get in a cursory rant about what an apocalyptic crime this is. Feel free to ignore it, i'm sure it'll just be repeated several thousand times over. Now, it's not the fact that a patent may or may not be valid (i.e., conforming to the rules of a sadistic, flawed game), it's the fact that still more needless litigation is being introduced into a system that is already frought with friction. That friction favors the powers that be and makes sure that nothing truly creative ever happens again in the United States. If this shit is allowed to continue, you will never see another dirt-poor writer making it to fame, or another hacker in a basement cooking up the next revolution in technology.

Re:USPTO Broken

Maybe the USPTO is saying "Ooh, good idea!" because it is purposefully committing suicide?

I mean, that's a weird idea, but it seems to me that they're basically forcing the government to deal with the problem. Surely any halfway intelligent person can see that this system just isn't working

Re:USPTO Broken

You might be on to something there. It would not be the first time that people do exactly what they are told to do even though they know it's stupid in order to highlight that stupidity. Frequently, trying to explain to those in power that they are wielding their power wrongly just does not work; they need to see the consequences of their actions before they realise they have made a mistake.

Very insightful.

Reality TV

Hopefully someone will patent reality TV shows. I am rather sick of those.

Wait no, this wont work. You need to have a story to be able to patent it. Soon all that will be on the air is reality TV. Noooo!

I've got a storyline patent too.

Claim 1: a communication process that represents, in the mind of a reader, the concept of a character who is so shocked and enraged by the concept of patenting a storyline, that he "snaps" (see USPTO #12006213391)

Claim 2: a communication process according to claim 1, wherein said character subsequently goes to his bedroom, where he keeps a loaded Glock 32C, and racks the slide.

Claim 3: a communication process according to claims 1 and 2, wherein said character subsequently flies to DC and unloads his plastic fantasic on an unsuspecting USPTO in a singlular act of biblical fury.

Claim 4: a communication process according to claims 1 2, and 3, wherein said character subsequently returns to his hometown and has a slurpy, cosmic justice being served.

You aint seen nothing yet

So y'all thought software patents were evil incarnate. Well it was only a matter of time until someone came along and made them look reasonable. And here it is.

This is so fucking depressing. Do Australians have to honour this patent within Australia? Did the government fuck us over with a treaty that makes it so any of our work falls under this god-forsaken piece of shit?

Re:You aint seen nothing yet

On behalf of all Americans, I apologize if our screwy patent office has deprived Aussies of their God-given liberty to write bad novels combining MIT and Rip van Winkle.

Re:You aint seen nothing yet

On behalf of all Americans, I apologize if our screwy patent office has deprived Aussies of their God-given liberty to write bad novels combining MIT and Rip van Winkle.

It's a test case. If approved, there will be literally thousands of similar ones approved and used to harrass writers all over the world.

I found this on the asshole who is making the claim's website [plotpatents.com]:

As far back as high school, [Andrew Knight] authored various works of short fiction that were published in national magazines,... Since then, he has conceived of a variety of unique fictional storylines. Recognizing that fierce competition for publication and financial reward focused on the quality of storytelling, as opposed to the quality of the underlying storyline itself, and further recognizing that even the world's most skilled storytellers (of which he is clearly not) rarely turn a profit, his unique fictional storylines have matured into pending patent applications instead of novels or screenplays. He thus seeks reward on the true value of his innovations--the underlying storylines--instead of forced, sub-par expressions of these underlying storylines.

So the same concept as submarine patents: don't create a sellable product, just patent the concept and wait to ambush someone who has the talent to think of it AND bring it to market. The main target will be movie studios I think -- already they have to fight off hacks who claim that someone read their script and stole the idea, now they'd be liable even if the "idea" was never shown to anyone or published.

But Is He Serious?

But is this Knight guy actually serious about this? Is this all just satire to show that the USPTO is incompetant?

The site is so absurb that it almost does count as some kind of anti-patent comic sketch.

Where am I...

I don't know why they want to spend billions going to Mars... this planet is bizzare enough.

Publish, not issue

Get it right. Even the article does. These are patent applications that are being published because of a recent statutory change requiring publication of all patent applications 18 months after filing. This has nothing to do with whether or not letters patent will be granted.

Re:Publish, not issue

Oh, you might be surprised what kind of triviality the patent office grants -- see this poster's list [slashdot.org].

And, sadly, it looks like this guy is serious. Looks like he's even set up a practice [plotpatents.com] to promote helping others get storyline patents.

They haven't issued anything

U.S. Patent Office Publishes the First Patent Application to Claim a Fictional Storyline; Inventor Asserts Provisional Rights Against Hollywood

...

Will Knights claimed storyline pass the rigors of nonobviousness and issue as a U.S. Patent? ...

Patent these quickly!

[wo]man vs. nature
[wo]man vs. [wo]man
[wo]man vs. the environment
[wo]man vs. machines/technology
[wo]man vs. the supernatural
[wo]man vs. self
[wo]man vs. god/religion

That pretty much covers everything.

Re:Patent these quickly!

Leaving us the fertile artistic ground of [The Environment vs. Nature] and [The Machines vs. God]. I am *so* in.

M

Re:Patent these quickly!

entity vs. (other) entity
entity vs. circumstance(s)
entity vs. nonentity

Reductio ad Absurdum

...And here are the assholes [plotpatents.com] who have been doing the legal legwork to make this possible. Here is their argument in law [plotpatents.com], which draws heavily on the flawed, idiotic precedents established with software patents.

The system is now officially broken, and anyone who takes the USPTO seriously after today is part of the problem.

Schwab

Re:Followup

Nah, they're obligated to accept it, so long as the paperwork and bribe are all proper.

You misspelt bribe. I corrected it in my quote for you.

Re:Reductio ad Absurdum

Maybe the MPAA and RIAA will have to put those lawers [sic] to a good use for once.

Are you kidding? The MPAA will pee themselves with delight over this. They will support this wholeheartedly.

Analysis:

The issue of, "Who owns the story," is a thorny one in Hollywood. Professional screenwriters -- many of whom, by the way, are unionized because the studios kept abusing them way back when -- often retain the copyrights to their stories. Among other things, copyright affords the author the right to enjoin performance of their story in most media (since those are derivative works). However, copyright's scope is limited. You only have a case against a studio if the copying was direct. If the studio's work was substantially similar, then you get to sit in court for years and argue exactly how similar it was, and whether the studio's work A) constitutes plagiarism, and B) whether the degree of plagiarism is sufficient to warrant punishment by the courts. See Buchwald vs. Paramount [wikipedia.org] for an example of how messy this can get.

Further, if a writer feels that s/he's being maltreated by the studios, s/he can vote with their feet and simply choose to work for someone else under different, hopefully better conditions. (In practice, this is more difficult than I'm making it sound.)

However, if plotline elements can be patented, then there will be a mad rush by the studios to acquire as many patents as possible. Once done, screenwriters will no longer be able to ply their trade without being expressly licensed by the studio to do so. The balance of power will shift massively to the studios, who will wield absolute veto power over who may write screenplays, and under what circumstances. ("I want to retain rights to the story." "I'm sorry; we don't offer plot element licenses under those conditions.")

This will also effectively kill those pesky independent screenwriters and film studios, since the large studios will simply refuse to license the plot elements. (The large studios won't have any difficulty; they'll merely cross-license with each other.) The studios could also, if they so wished, break the screenwriters' union overnight.

And, of course, you'll hear a bunch of self-serving blathering about how film production is massively expensive, and successful film plots are already hard to come by, so successful plot elements should be afforded the maximum protection possible because, darn it, it was expensive to develop. This "reasoning" is, of course, complete bullshit, but it'll play well in the trade magazines and the halls of Congress.

Schwab

The Worst Part Is...

... that's got to be the lamest story line I've ever heard.

Not to mention the fact that Rip Van Winkle, King Arthur, and Sleeping Beauty are all prior art.

Hrm.

Sleeping Beauty?

Maybe the worst part is what Disney is going to do to this guy...

Impressive Prior Art Though...

There's a good body of prior art out there to invalidate many patents. All you need to do is work on an existing story archetype. That's a pretty wide range, covering the entire literary world to date.

According to Joseph Campbell, nearly all good stories conform to a standard cycle (the name of which eludes me right now), making all heroic-type stories unpatentable.

Shame about originality though. And also a shame that if someone comes to sue you, you've got to go through a long process to prove that you weren't copying their stuff. The one with the biggest legal bill will probably win.

What was wrong with copyright anyway? All works of fiction are under copyright, and there are existing ways to deal with transgressions. Plagiarism is anethema to real authors, as well.

Palm Sunday.

In his book Palm Sunday Kurt Vonnegut talks about a project he completed in school where he graphed the happiness curve of the main character over the course of the book/story. He examined many popular stories and found out that all of the stories he looked at shared only a handful of common graphs. It's been a while but I remember him saying that the book of genesis has the same graph as cinderalla for example.

Whoever patents the five or six storylines that are the basis for virtually all books will become richer then Bill Gates.

The neat thing about this is that you don't have to actuall write the books yourself. The patent office punishes the people who get off their ass and do things while rewarding people who get in the patent line early and patent things they have never built or made.

Re:Palm Sunday.

Lots of people have done this type of analysis, and it is quite valuable. That doesn't mean that the subject matter is without merit, however. EVERY Simpsons episode has followed roughly the same structure for ten years, and it still captivates audiences. Ever notice that the first 5 minutes have nothing to do with the next 25? Yup, that's the one.

Someone is going to mod me up for saying this, then mod me down for being obvious, but read The Hero with a Thousand Faces [amazon.com]. It goes into painstaking detail about the idealized hero story, and yet the structure fits tons of popular and historical media such as Terminator 2, Heart of Darkness, Cowboy Bebop, Tarzan, Blade, Odysseus, the new testament in the Bible, etc, etc.

There are several other structures out there, and nearly infinite variants, but if you look at media with a critical eye you will find that all good films, books, shows, and games fall into set patterns of challenges, setbacks, losses, and eventual triumph (or not). If I may be so bold, most truly great pieces of media aren't made by artists, but by craftsmen. An artist explores their feelings as they create, producing something which is generally more intellectually engaging than emotionally so. A craftsman knows every tool of their trade, and hones their skills, tricks, and abilities towards controlling the viewer's reaction. Spielberg is a master craftsman. Vonnegut is a craftsman. Even in artistic pieces like Y Tu Mama Tambien, the craftsmanship is present and in the forefront.

I say this because too many people try to create media from the heart, without realizing that you really need to engage your head thoroughly in order to focus on how to effect the heart of your audience. These people are master magicians: they conjure up images and emotions using smoke and mirrors. And like master magicians, they have to know the routines, and know how to work the routines so that they don't seem like routines. Part of the magic is taking something that was slaved over for years, with every detail hashed out and revised in painstaking detail, and making it look completley natural and unintended.

But there is magic, there is structure. And if you want to become a magician, you need to give up the magic and learn how it is done.

Re:There are only seven original stories

Now choose random book/movie/video game and try to assign them to one of thes