Your Rights Online: Orinoco.com Granted Patent on Clicking Posted by jamie_k on Monday October 18, @07:30AM EDT from the click-here-to-infringe dept. Prior Art Pete writes "The online bookseller Orinoco.com has been granted U.S. Patent 5,999,999 covering 'a method and system for placing an order by means of a pointing device actuated a single time.' The claims appear to cover any web store where you buy something with one click. Competitors are said to be considering a two-click workaround, or in one case, a long press." The patent office appears to be granting patents on anything that runs on a computer and has been done before, as long as it is described with enough words. I'm patenting 'a method of reading Dashdot at work.' Several readers have pointed out that the patent examiner cited exactly zero web-related prior art. One reader sent in a screenshot of a 1996 shareware catalog program with a button labeled, in its entirety, "Buy." Your Rights Online: Orinoco.com Granted Patent on Clicking | Login/Create an Account | Top | 22 comments | Search Discussion Threshold: -1: 22 comments 0: 19 comments 1: 15 comments 2: 13 comments 3: 9 comments 4: 7 comments 5: 4 comments NestedFlatThreadedNo Comments Oldest FirstNewest FirstHighest Scores First The fine print: the following comments belong to whoever typed them. Dashdot takes no responsibility for them, and frankly, neither do most of the people who typed them. Prior art: every vending machine ever by jamie_k on Monday October 18, @07:40AM EDT (#2) (User Info) You press one button and a soda comes out. The vending machine stores your payment info in the form of the quarters you just put in it. I rest my case. [ Reply to This ] Re:Prior art: every vending machine ever by DaemonDiva on Monday October 18, @07:52AM EDT (#3) (User Info) This is the most sensible thing I've read on Dashdot all week. Somebody mod this up. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Boycott by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, @07:55AM EDT (#4) I've already moved my book buying elsewhere. It's a small gesture but if enough of us do it they'll notice. Or they won't, and I'll have fewer books. Either way. [ Reply to This ] Re:Boycott by pitchfork_pete on Monday October 18, @08:24AM EDT (#6) (User Info) Says the guy posting at 3am on a Tuesday. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Boycott by UpgradeUma on Monday October 18, @08:35AM EDT (#7) (User Info) Agreed. Couldn't have said it better myself. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Boycott by cyber_wombat on Monday October 18, @09:03AM EDT (#10) (User Info) I work in this field, and the parent is basically right, although the details are a bit more complicated than one comment can cover. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:Boycott by BioBob on Monday October 18, @09:21AM EDT (#12) (User Info) Not true at all. I've been running it for months with no problems. Maybe check your hardware? [ Reply to This | Parent ] Patent on breathing pending by GeckoGuy on Monday October 18, @08:41AM EDT (#8) (User Info) I just filed for 'a method of oxygen intake by means of a respiratory organ actuated repeatedly.' You will all owe me royalties by Thursday. [ Reply to This ] The patent office is understaffed by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, @08:49AM EDT (#9) Examiners have something like 20 hours per application and almost no access to software literature, since most software prior art was never published as a paper or a patent. This is a systemic problem, not just a dumb examiner. [ Reply to This ] Re:The patent office is understaffed by Anonymous Coward (Score:0) Re:The patent office is understaffed by Nervous Ned on Monday October 18, @10:06AM EDT (#17) (User Info) Actually, that's a common misconception. The spec explicitly allows it; it's the vendors who didn't implement it. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Read the article by HexHead on Monday October 18, @09:13AM EDT (#11) (User Info) Did anyone actually read the article? Half the comments here are answering questions that are answered in the second paragraph. [ Reply to This ] Re:Read the article by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, @10:23AM EDT (#18) You must be new here. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Profit by CourtWatcher on Monday October 18, @09:31AM EDT (#13) (User Info) Step 1: write story. Step 2: get 300 comments. Step 3: ... [ Reply to This ] Microwave by MediaMaven on Monday October 18, @10:33AM EDT (#20) (User Info) My microwave has more processing power than the computer that went to the moon, and it still can't figure out popcorn. [ Reply to This ] Information wants to be free by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, @10:43AM EDT (#21) Information wants to be free. Hardware wants to be cheap. I want a nap. [ Reply to This ] 7 replies beneath your current threshold. Show them all (threshold -1).

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