McDonalds Files 55 Page Patent On THE SANDWICH- 'Method and Apparatus'

[Jcrowley]

McDonald's to patent . . . THE SANDWICH

It never fails - EVERY TIME I think that corporate lawyers can't dream up anything more absurd than they already have, they prove, unequivocally, that I lack the gift of diabolical imagination.

<snip<>[br />
The burger company says owning the 'intellectual property rights' would help its hot deli sandwiches look and taste the same at all of its restaurants.

Harmless, right? WRONG. These people are CORPORATE CONTROL FREAKS. They won't stop until EVERYTHING is under their control. 

It also wants to cut down on the time needed to put together a sandwich, thought to have been dreamt up by the Earl of Sandwich in 1762. They want us to pay royalties to them because some ham in the 18th century was too lazy to make a hot meal???

http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/169

McDonald's puts patent on sandwiches
Tuesday, November 21, 2006

McDonald's wants to own the rights to how a sandwich is made.

The fast-food chain has applied for a patent relating to the 'method and apparatus' used to prepare the snack.

<snip>

The 55-page patent, which has been filed in the US and Europe, covers the 'simultaneous toasting of a bread component'.

Garnishes of lettuce, onions and tomatoes, as well as salt, pepper and ketchup, are inserted into a cavity in a 'sandwich delivery tool'.

The 'bread component' is placed over the cavity and the assembly tool is inverted to tip out the contents. Finally, the filling is placed in the 'bread component'.

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=26183&in_page_id=34

[MannyGoldstein]

1. I Think This is Overstated

Essentially, they're trying to patent a machine (or part thereof) for making a sandwich. It's probably very, very narrowly focused.

[warrens]

3. It looks like they have a machine that automatically stuffs a sandwich

No biggie. There are lots of similar patents for restaurant thigamajigs. Subway has one for its super toaster oven, which really is an amazing machine. Toasts and heats a sandwich in about 10 seconds.

[sui generis]

2. they can file a million patents

it is the one that gets approved that counts, and that's just not going to happen with the sandwich. Even if it did get approved in some bizarro world - it could not be equally and fairly enforced, and finally, for such an approval to have merit McDonalds would have to prove that construction of the sandwich is not common and public knowledge and de facto public domain.

However, it might just be a marketing ploy . . . . and that's a horse of a different stripe altogether.

[ET Awful]

4. Doesn't look like they're patenting the sandwich to me

simply a device to make a sandwich, which they invented:

"McDonald's said: 'These applications are not intended to prevent anyone from using previous methods for making sandwiches.'"

I see no problem here at all.

[Solon]

5. I agree, I've seen some absurd patents lately, but this isn't one of them...

most of the absurd ones are usually related to Computer SOFTWARE and Genetic Engineering.