02-28-2004, 12:38 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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The Register: "Judge Denies MS Attempt to Re-Define 'Card' "
"A US District Court has agreed that the word 'card' means any 'flat, rectangular piece of stiff material', paving the way for intellectual property company E-Pass to pursue its claim that HP iPaqs running Microsoft software violate its patent for a "multi-function card"...E-Pass claims the Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system violates patent number 5,276,311, which it administers on behalf of the inventor, Hartmut Hennige. The so-called '311 patent' essentially describes an electronic wallet used to hold credit card details securely on said multi-function card."
What I want to know is how the US patent office found so many "talented people" to work there. The patents they give out clearly have a lot of thought behind them... :roll:
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02-28-2004, 12:53 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 54
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So "'card' means any 'flat, rectangular piece of stiff material'"?
Really? So thickness is not a factor? So a brick is a card? And having multiple pieces of stuff, not all flat and rectangular, joined together into a vaguely rectangular shape is not a factor? So a rectangular BUILDING is a card? And the original IPAQs were not even rectangular!
I hope these people are not allowed to breed! :evil:
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02-28-2004, 12:54 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 70
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This is pretty typical of the patent office though. This is right in line with people who register all the URLs they can to profit. It's really stupid.
Plus- why just sue over HP? Because they are market leader? Sounds a little over selective to me.
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02-28-2004, 01:09 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,162
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This is pretty crazy.
By the way, be wary of going to the "E-Pass" web site. I just did and it caused my browser to go so haywire my whole system slowed to a crawl.
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02-28-2004, 01:19 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 323
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Years ago, John Dvorak suggested that he should patent the hinge on the lid of a laptop, and the use of the characters "C:>" as a prompt.
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02-28-2004, 01:25 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 130
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Hey gang..... don't blame the Patent office on this one:
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A US District Court has agreed...
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this was a decision of a US District Court judge...... now.... if you read the ruling, it also doesn't say that an iPaq constitutes a "card", only that:
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the word 'card' means any 'flat, rectangular piece of stiff material'
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Which means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in this case.... next the guy has to prove that an iPAQ is a "Flat, rectangular piece of stiff material", THEN he has to prove that Microsoft voilated the patent by making the iPAQ "hold credit card details securely on said multi-function card". Heh.... the very existance of packages that are made to do just that could be argued to invalidate that claim. TO prove these two things, they'll have to provide a "preponderance of evidence" to a judge to warrant the case moving forward, and then they'll have to prove it to a 51% certainty to a jury.
Funny, but I think Microsoft has the wherewithall to fight this easily and handily, and would likely win to the degree that the entire patent is invalidated. These guys went straight after the big fish when there were oh so many little fish to fry that likely could not have fought it.
D.
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02-28-2004, 01:26 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 602
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Jason I think calling them trained/untrained chimps is an insult to primates everywhere. They are actually bottom feeding bilge scum! :wink:
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02-28-2004, 01:30 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 165
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Screen protector similarity
Sounds oddly similar to the guy who has a patent on a "plastic film used to cover and protect an electronic screen" which he's used to harass some of the best screen protector people out of the business...
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02-28-2004, 01:58 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 117
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Mitch D
Jason I think calling them trained/untrained chimps is an insult to primates everywhere. They are actually bottom feeding bilge scum! :wink:
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Hey!! :evil:
How dare you!? Bottom feeding bilge scum have feelings (and standards) too, and they may not appreciate your comparison.
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02-28-2004, 02:22 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 153
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Omigosh! I use a cigarette case as a wallet, and it's flat, rectangular, and rigid, and it holds my credit cards! Since it also holds cash, that makes it 'multi-function'! :crazyeyes:
What a waste of time...
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