The following message was posted on the EPO discussion list by Hartmut Pilch,
who wages a vigorous war against software patenting. The new IBM patent (with
64 claims to method, apparatus, software code and system) is an interesting
example. Although the claims define something useful, it could be argued that
it isn't actually useable. But it is entertaining.
Edlyn Simmons
---------------------- Forwarded by Edlyn Simmons-ES/PGI on 01/07/2002 01:58 PM
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From: PILCH Hartmut <phm@a2e.de> on 01/05/2002 01:55 PM GMT
PILCH Hartmut To: epo@mlist.austria.eu.net
<phm@a2e.de> Cc: (bcc: Edlyn Simmons-ES/PGI)
Subject: IBM toilet reservation patent (fwd)
01/05/2002 08:55 AM
Please respond to
PILCH Hartmut
<phm@a2e.de>
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2002 13:31:03 +0100 (CET)
From: PILCH Hartmut <phm@a2e.de>
To: news@ffii.org
Cc: patents@aful.org
Subject: [ffii] IBM toilet reservation patent
The US Patent Office has, on 2001-12-11, granted IBM a patent on the
principle of reserving a restroom and receiving a signal that it has
become available.
Although the USPTO has recently hired a lot of specialised software
examiners and raised the rejection rate in business software patents from
1/2 to 2/3 (while the EPO has at the same time been shortening the time
afforded for examining each patent), some evidently very funny patents
still get through.
http://www.delphion.com/details?pn=US06329919__
U.S. Patent 6,329,919
System and method for providing reservations for restroom use
IBM (filed Aug. 2000, issued Dec. 11 2001)
...
What is claimed is:
1. A method of providing reservations for restroom use, comprising:
receiving a reservation request from a user; and
notifying the user when the restroom is available for his or
her use.
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising assigning a
reservation number in response to the request.
... (8 further independent claims)
If the patent gets issued at the EPO, an extra independent claim should be
added:
10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising an option to
order a roll of toilet paper with the following printed on it
(1) art 52 EPC
(2) a portrait of emperor Vespasianus
(3) the words "pecunia non olet"
-- Hartmut Pilch http://phm.ffii.org/ Protecting Innovation against Patent Inflation http://swpat.ffii.org/ 100,000 signatures against software patents http://www.noepatents.org/_______________________________________________ News mailing list News@ffii.org http://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/news
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