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Internet & IT / Patents
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2003-01-24 17:47:24-05
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US claims on absurd patents may backfire in Asia
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2002-approval of patent for method that has been used globally in software for 20 years.
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Webdesigners worldwide who (since Netscape introduced the frame-capable browser in 1996) used frames for their web-pages would hardly ever imagine that their customers might find themselves target of a copyright infringement claim due to patents approved in 1999 and 2002. But that is exactly what happened for http://www.museumtour.com. A letter from SBC claiming patents on a "Structured Document Browser" reached president Ms. Eichinger encouraging her to seek proper licensing for using frames in the company webpage. http://www2.museumtour.com/sbc.html Museum Tour is not alone in being a potential target for SBC. BizAsia estimates that at least several million sites use frames in their design as a search in Google.com (for exact sequences found in most such pages) comes up with millions of references. "It's hilarious!" says Tony Chan, CEO for Creative Webdesign, Hong Kong. "I hope that the US patent office does not one day approve a patent of 'starting an engine by inserting an especially shaped metal object into a slot' - or the whole car industy may have to face infringement lawsuits!." Others find it less amusing. John Smith, BSAsia, wrote: "We really don't need these stories. In times where we seek improved Asian respect for US patent and copyright issues, the US Patent office is not helping the case by approving patents on trivialities that even common users immediately recognizes as having been in widespread use for years already in products made by other companies." Back in the US programmer Mike Gunderloy operating larkware.com had the following comment: "This is so staggeringly stupid that it's difficult to know where to start, other than with the obvious observation that they [U.S. Patent Office] have no business granting this sort of junk patent." Earlier British Telecom failed to convince judges that it could claim a patient on links in webpages. Amazon had more success in claiming that Barnes and Noble infringed on their copyright on using cookies to store user information in their shopping cart, despite the fact that thousands of ecommerce sites already had used the method for years before the patent was approved. A patent was a couple of years ago awarded to Microsoft for "style sheets" in browsers, also a technology that had been in widespread use for some time already. In most such cases the patent holder would bave no chance of ever winning a lawsuit, but they can send out license requirements to hundreds of thousands of websites. Some will always pay, a legal version of the fake-invoice scam. Museum Tours has said it will await response from lawyeres before acting further in the case.
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