It seems any unique process can be patented.
StubHub granted U.S. patents for seat mapping
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Re: StubHub granted U.S. patents for seat mapping
#12How is this substantially new? This type of article makes the US patent system laughable.
The patent thing may look laughable from the outside but inside the US it's pretty much required by how everything in business has been set up - to squeeze everything out of anyone using so-called 'legal' methods.
The legal system in the US is basically a self-feeding machine that produces crap you have to pay for.
Re: StubHub granted U.S. patents for seat mapping
#13I don't know why it takes so long to grant a patent when all they do is slide it under the rubber stamp machine.
Some articles I've read suggest that it's intentional on the part of the applicant. The idea is to extend the useful life of the patent by delaying the application's completion as much as possible.
> The idea is to extend the useful life of the patent by delaying the application's completion as much as possible.
That hasn't worked for around 20 years - the "if issued term" clock starts ticking the day that you apply.
This is a huge problem for drug companies because their applications take a long time to issue.