Wired News: Congress Tackles Patent Reform
Every year, the patent office receives around 160,000 patent applications, far more than its staff can handle. The office issues approximately 100 patents every working hour, Myers said, meaning that patents with little merit or litigious intent often sneak through the cracks. How else to explain a patent for an idea as inane as “a method of swinging on a swing”?
Good article in Wired.
Odes and Lore and all the joy and laughter swings can bring!
Jacqueline
Of course, once patents are granted, corporations will do absolutely anything to justify their existence :
http://www.macrovision.com/company/news/drm/response_letter.shtml