An anti-gravity space vehicle?

But despite their best efforts, mistakes are inevitable and patents may be
granted to unworkable ideas. Some 5,000 examiners must currently handle a
load of 350,000 applications per year

So? I'm not sure why anyone would care about a patent being issue for
an unworkable idea. So the inventor is out $15,000 in attorney fees, so
what? The problem with the patent office happens when a patent officer
accepts a patent for something that is not patentable or too similar to
an existing patent. When you submit your patent the examiner will
return similar patents and require you to reword yours so it doesn't
overlap the existing patent. However, worst case the examiner gets it
wrong. So what? You try to stop someone from using your idea, that
person takes you to court and shows your idea already existed somewhere
else, judge throws our your patent. I"m not seeing the danger here.

-Robert (holder 3 U.S. patents, additional patents pending)

You try to stop someone from using your idea, that
person takes you to court and shows your idea already existed somewhere
else, judge throws our your patent. I"m not seeing the danger here.

There are several dangers, among them the effective awarding of rights
to the one with the biggest pocket. "Patenting everything - let the
courts decide" puts the onus on the general public to risk huge losses
by adopting an method which was inappropriately patented (such as the
method of using only one click to shop). It was dangerous enough so
that Borders and B&N have implemented "two click" methods just to avoid
lawyers.

If B&N won't take on a dumb patent, I doubt that mom and pop stores will
dare. So, Amazon inappropriately gets to use "just one click" to shop,
as if it were not only novel, but a significant feat (though it could be
a significant advantage).

Also, existing patents (defended or not) serve as a benchmark against
which other methods are evaluated for patentability. The ball keeps
rolling, and one day we may find ourselves paying royalties on the idea
of writing a book on a PDA.

Jose
--
He who laughs, lasts.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

The Amazon "one-click" patent is folklore of the highest order. I've
read that patent, its certainly doesn't claim territory for any time
you can shop with one click. In fact, you can't even patent a result,
you can only patent a process (of which Amazon's one-click shopping is
extensive). Personally, I find Amazon's one-click shopping irritating
and annoying and I've ask to turn it off on my account. More than once
I've accidently ordered something I didn't want. Luckily I noticed it
and was able to cancel the order before it shipped.