Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#111

Post by rincebrain » Fri, Nov 30, 2018, 9:23 AM UTC

mirimir wrote: post #90

JimDabell wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mangle to use "they"? Mangle? "They" is perfectly fine to use in this situation, it's not mangling at all.

In this case, you're right. Or at least, it's what I'd have done. Still, when I learned English, "they" wasn't singular. I guess that it's the norm now, but it still feels odd. And sometimes using it does require mangling. I'd rather have a set of gender-neutral pronouns, but hey.

Singular they dates back over 600 years, while the criticism of it dates back only a hundred or two.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#112

Post by dpacmittal » Fri, Nov 30, 2018, 9:25 AM UTC

rkangel wrote: post #106

CalChris wrote: post #34

Regina Dugan is a former head of DARPA as well as ATAP. She has an impressive resume. Why would she do something like this? For a not particularly important patent, LED popup books? It seems bizarre. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regina_E._Dugan

Julian Assange did culture shifting work with Wikileaks, but allegedly sexually assaulted 2 women. Adrian Peterson is possibly the best running back to ever play in the NFL, but has recently admitted that he still beats his children. Steve Jobs created products that advanced how we use technology in our every day lives by leaps and bounds, but by all accounts was cruel to his daughter. People can achieve amazing, imp…

But this is not a matter of personal vs professional life. What she did was on a professional capacity. Not really comparable to all the examples you gave.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#113

Post by StudentStuff » Fri, Nov 30, 2018, 9:26 AM UTC

spullara wrote: post #46

CryoLogic wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the time, I could not find a single social media site that was using link-rewriting to make affiliate money. Blogs and fan sites for niche products had been using this to make money for a while, social media sites had not yet tried it. The close proximity with the announcement and my interview is what really bothered me. I have a strong feeling (but cannot prove) that someone I interviewed with took the idea and r…

We did that at Bagcheck in 2010. It was super common. They may have taken your idea and ran with it but it wasn't a novel idea. Generally though, at scale, you run into problems with the affiliate programs and they cut you off.

Is affiliate stuffing adding any value? In most cases, it doesn't seem to drive more customers towards the business paying the affiliate commission.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#114

Post by philpem » Fri, Nov 30, 2018, 9:27 AM UTC

nubb wrote: post #31

The story in the article about Jill MacKay stealing their LED sticker idea then trying to sell them the patent for $5m is infuriating. Goes to show you can get scammed by some jeweler in Colorado just as fast and easily as by huge Corp like Google. I suppose it's possible she had the idea, saw their kickstarter then submitted a patent to CYA. But then why back the kickstarter? Just feels fishy.

Probably the same reason some major companies (FTSE250/Fortune 500) do the same thing. It's called a "competitor product teardown" - the goal is to identify things your competitors are doing, whether they're patented, and whether you can do the same thing (or something similar) to improve your own product.

It's basically the BigCo Inc. version of "that's a great idea, I'm glad I thought of it". (and usually patented it too)

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#115

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Nov 30, 2018, 9:30 AM UTC

Animats wrote: post #22

Did you sign Google's visitor agreement? Did you read Google's visitor agreement. You give up some IP rights by signing that. This is a case where it matters. When I visited Google, I refused to sign. They just give you a badge that said you didn't sign.

[deleted]

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#116

Post by Retric » Fri, Nov 30, 2018, 9:30 AM UTC

markdown wrote: post #99

geezerjay wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not the only one wondering that. In fact, one way to get an impressive resume is to railroad others and use people as stepping stones to your way to the top.

Thomas Edison had a great resume.

He also ‘railroad others and use people as stepping stones to your way to the top‘ so that’s not a counter argument.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#117

Post by paul7986 » Fri, Nov 30, 2018, 9:32 AM UTC

paul7986 wrote: post #104

rkangel wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is (one of the reasons) why you sign NDAs before discussing your technology.

A mutual NDA was signed as seen here https://ryanspahn.com/motorola-google-Expired-NDA2013.pdf . We started SpeakerBlast in March 2013 & were meeting with Google in April 2013. We filed a provisional before the meeting & have a patent in the patent office.

The tech came a long way after meeting them... its now a web app driven by JS that plays, pauses, forwards, rewinds audio in sync as seen in this 2014 video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ9itwp_wYc&index=20&list=UU...

We revived it after seeing Google's April 2018 patent & are excited about finally getting it out to the public.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#118

Post by StudentStuff » Fri, Nov 30, 2018, 9:33 AM UTC

dimator wrote: post #66

geezerjay wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Did you read Google's visitor agreement. You give up some IP rights by signing that. I guess the "don't be evil" thing is already well down the toilet. What's that all about? A new form of tribute when you're called upon to kiss Google's ring?

I'm pretty sure all companies do similar.

No, Google would be among a handful of companies to do so. Very few companies in the US have meaningful access control to the workplace, and a tiny portion of them request visitors sign an agreement like the one described at the beginning of this thread. It seems like a power play by Google, akin to how Amazon requests drivers licenses when visiting.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#119

Post by janeroe » Fri, Nov 30, 2018, 9:34 AM UTC

mirimir wrote: post #90

JimDabell wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mangle to use "they"? Mangle? "They" is perfectly fine to use in this situation, it's not mangling at all.

In this case, you're right. Or at least, it's what I'd have done. Still, when I learned English, "they" wasn't singular. I guess that it's the norm now, but it still feels odd. And sometimes using it does require mangling. I'd rather have a set of gender-neutral pronouns, but hey.

> when I learned English, "they" wasn't singular

Did you learn English before 14th century? Because that's when it emerged.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#120

Post by sn41 » Fri, Nov 30, 2018, 9:34 AM UTC

georgeek wrote: post #94

Just a reminder that Google, or any company for that matter, has a fiduciary duty towards their shareholders to file a patent for everything they have learned about and that hasn't been patented yet.

Is this really the case? I know that Milton Friedman promoted this idea, but can pursuing some welfare at the cost of short-term profits be an offence?