Reply #12: It was on the nightly nooz... [View All]

[TreasonousBastard]

I forget which one the teevee happened to be on at the time. Probably all of them mentioned it since it's BIG NEWS that Smuckers wants to expand it's present PB&J patent, and it's one of the dumber patewnts to come out of a major corporation. It's also one that everyone can understand, unlike submarine patents, so the newsies can do a story that gets the point across without making everyone's eyes glaze over.

(You have no idea how many stories get spiked simply because they can't figure out how to do them so that the average slob gets the point and doesn't change the channel.)

They mentioned the sideways swing patent and the problem with the Patent Office having hundreds of thousands to review every year with a limited staff.

They also mentioned one Patent Offcice reviewer (since gone) who actually hid piles of applications in the ceiling so he could show his desk was clear. And a patent attorney who said that sort of thing has been done for years, so should not be patentable. (Anyone ever bought a Hostess fruit pie?)

The Patent Office has been having problems for years, and hardly has a handle on what's going on. Stands to reason everyone with a lawyer on retainer is working the system as much as they can.