How does the patent office go about validating patents? Nintendo just recieved a patent for the use of insanity in video games. Creative and Microsoft own the patents to several Apple Ipod features. The newest one is the Creative patent on the heirarchal menu system for organizing the files on an mp3 player. Seems to me that DOS did this first, it was just adapted to the new technology.
My thoughts on this are that patenting the menu system that is very similar to the DOS system, or techniques for affecting game play based on a percieved ‘sanity’ response of the player is just plain stupid.
If something is not done about this, and soon, inovation in the technology world will cease to exist. All these companies will have patents to one thing or another and none of them will want to pay to use the other patent.
Take the same concepts to Hollywood and see how much worse our movies would be. Imagine someone patenting the use of swords in a battle scene to depict hand to hand battle. You get the idea.
Stop the patent abuse now!
About Shane Ede
DOS didn’t do it first. MS Copied pioneers before them in unix and other OS’s
I’ll be the first to admit that I was wrong. I’ll admit that DOS didn’t do it first. Perhaps a middle ground can be found in saying that the first versions of MS were a little ‘borrowed’ from many different places including, I think, DOS.
“Nintendo just recieved a patent for the use of insanity in video games.”
-That patent is 5 years old…
The patent that nintendo received was applied for 5 years ago. It was approved early this week or late last week.