Shall I patent the act of tying my shoelaces?

virgil · Post by **virgil** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 9:03 am

Draco_Argentum · Post by **Draco_Argentum** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 9:19 am

That sounds a crapload like the sandwich maker I have down stairs.

shau · Post by **shau** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 9:38 am

I don't know why, but somehow the industrialization of sandwiches and discussion of the "bread product combination" is the most unsavory thing I have read in a while. If there are more patents like this one I could lose some weight.

virgil · Post by **virgil** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 9:39 am

Is Burger King going to have to pay royalties or something for using McDonald's patent?

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 10:02 am

There's a faulty assumption here actually.

While the language is retarded, the actual patent is a little more sinister than a wishy-washy "I get the patent on sandwiches."

If you read the actual document carefully, it shows that the intention is methods on automated sandwich making with the device.

They go into detail on the different sandwiches makeable because, well, with the way patent law is setup, they have to cover their ass.

I'm not using this as an endorsement of the company but it actually shows that automated sandwich making only does one thing in particular.

It puts teenage boys and girls with lots of acne out of a friendly McJob.

This can be seen as a real world look at RAI & RAW though because while intention and a percentage of the wording (probably a little less than 50%) point to process of sandwich making is easily connected to the auto-sandwich making machine.

the written patent can be interpreted by some of the zealots of the law profession to mean that McCompany has a patent on them sandwiches.

of course, this also leads to the ordinary lay person accidentally mistaking what the patent is supposed to mean.

I doubt Mcdonalds is going to try to enforce the patent to get royalties from other sandwich makers as that would only cause a panel to review the patent and like other similar cases such as the crustless sandwich, it'll get thrown out.

I'm no fan of the current patent law system but the panel review board seems to get at least some of the more ridiculous things thrown out.

~

In slightly related news, i think that's the first .int domain site I've seen. I knew of their existence but it's somewhat fun to look at.

I wonder if anyone actually uses the .museum domains.