Filed in archive Abuse by Marc on July 13, 2006

This post is a bit far from P2P. But absurdity knows few bounds. I ran across this silliness at eMoms At Home of all places - Friendster Patents Social Networking. As if Friendster was the first social network and there is no prior art.

A Red Herring article posts a quote that reminds one why lawyers are so loved (and why media who print them are as well). "Once the patent is issued there is a presumption of validity that follows with it," said attorney Bill Heinze of thomas, Kayden, Horstemeyer & Risley. Bill, the only presumption is that attorneys will get rich trying to litigate this fluff.

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Friendster receives patent on social networking - 10 July 2006
Friendster Awarded Social Networking Patent - 10 July 2006
The Cure to Anti-Social Social Networking - 16 October 2007
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Permalink: Silly Patents

Tags: social networking patent digital patents silly+patents social+networking digital+music

Trackback: http://publish.creative-weblogging.com/publish/mt-tb.pl/29179

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Vote for Silly Patents:

Currently 7.00/10
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Rating: 7.00 out of 4 vote(s) cast.

Response from: Eric (07/13/06 9:07am)

The attorney didn't just make it up; it's the law. 35 U.S.C. Section 282 reads "A patent shall be presumed valid. ..." If you don't like it, call your representative in Congress.

Response from: Wendy Piersall (07/13/06 7:13pm)

Silly indeed! I even read somewhere that the guy that started Friendster made a comment to another friend at a party about copying the 'six degrees of separation idea' from another site... sadly, I've been online way too much lately as I can't find the post anywhere in my history :( I think life will go on regardless!

Response from: internet pharmacy (06/19/07 6:51am)

Silly patents!? What about it? As Eric said, the law is the law. You cannot change it now.