Patenting the Bleedin' Obvious

Paul Allen's company is suing all the websites with deep pockets because he has a patent on how a website is designed (see above) - NYT Digits

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s Interval Licensing is suing 11 companies, including tech giants Apple and Google, alleging patent infringement. Below, a look at the patents in the lawsuit.

Browser for Use in Navigating a Body of Information, With Particular Application to Browsing Information Represented by Audiovisual Data
What It Is: Obviously, it’s a browser for use in navigating a body of information, with particular application for browsing information represented by audiovisual data. Duh.

Attention Manager for Occupying the Peripheral Attention of a Person in the Vicinity of a Display Device
What It Is: The patent describes a tool that gives people news, stock quotes, ads and other information, peripherally to their main activity. One version of the tool makes use of the “unused capacity” of the screen and specifically mentions screen savers and wallpaper as areas where information could be displayed. Another displays content even when the user is busy but does so in an unobtrusive way. There are two patents with the same title listed in the suit, and one is a continuation of the other application.

Alerting Users to Items of Current Interest
What It Is: The writers of this patent should be congratulated for coming up with a title that really does succinctly describe what the patent is for. Basically, it’s a system for sifting through information, evaluating what the user would want to see and then giving an alert when such information pops up.

This patent is the only one in the suit that all the companies are alleged to have violated.

The implications of these are fairly widespread, as these things really are going back to trying to patent crank handles (an abuse of the early days of patents in the UK, which forced early steam engine pioneers to use moon and sun gears). We've built examples of nearly of all these things over the last 5 years or so and knew nothing of Mr Allen's patents, coming up with them quite independently (along with many other people I'm sure) because - surprise, surprise - this is the only real way to do them.

I bet there are loads of people out there with circuit diagrams in powerpoint going back 15 years that look just like this, its just that - silly us - we never thought to patent anything so bloody obvious! In fact surely some of the pre internet systems would have prior art here, never mind the early push systems? As with Facebook trying to trademark English words that are 500 years old, sadly the US system all too often rewards deep pockets, not deep intelligence.

What is needed, apart from a radical shakeup of the US patenting system, is - in my opinion - in patents like these is for the next level down - how they do some of this to be patented, not this level.

Addendum - and that the plaintiffs actually be making something, not just amassing patents and handing out lawsuits