Mashable - The Social Media Guide - Latest Comments in “Groundbreaking” Social Networking Patent at Auction

Re: “Groundbreaking” Social Networking Patent at Auction

Ben — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 02:42:03 -0000

You guys are right that an idea alone cannot be patented and thats also clear with the USPTO - the invention has to be backed by a technology to enable it.

Re: “Groundbreaking” Social Networking Patent at Auction

mark — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 01:33:43 -0000

roflmao, this as stupid as saying I own a patent on how to chew gum.

Re: “Groundbreaking” Social Networking Patent at Auction

Ben Strackany — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:17:07 -0000

The thing is, defending against a patent lawsuit is so expensive that many companies would rather pay bonus "license" fees than pay out the $2MM, spend months or years in court, and hope that the judges et al are savvy enough to understand that there's no infringement.

Re: “Groundbreaking” Social Networking Patent at Auction

wade — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 14:47:01 -0000

I'm sure we can all name 10 sites that had similar or precursor functionality long before 2001.

Even if the patent is valid I wouldn't think it would mean all social networks would have to shut down. That would be like saying, "Ford built the first automobile and patented it, so it is illegal to make automobiles unless you are Ford." Every social network has it's own version of those ideas... which were taken from other companies... which were taken from pre-web ideas, and so forth.

Thus the old saying: "There are no original ideas."

Re: “Groundbreaking” Social Networking Patent at Auction

Danny Tuppeny — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:22:03 -0000

Prepare to all be sued! :-(

Re: “Groundbreaking” Social Networking Patent at Auction

Mike Mothner — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:57:19 -0000

I too have a tough time understanding how it is even possible to patent a set of ideas that describe how social networks are created and implemented. Can the owner of the patent declare violation of the patent by the numerous networking sites currently putting these ideas to use on their own initiative? It seems rather absurd that such a patent would be allowed, as this will only lead to unnecessary conflict and harm to existing and valued social networking sites.

Re: “Groundbreaking” Social Networking Patent at Auction

CountRob — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:52:33 -0000

This is an outrage. You cannot patent ideas, it even says so at the USPTO. You can patent physical things, like a car part or whatever. But software is a grey area and this patent isn't even that, just the concept of a social network.

However, if someone gets hold of it and tries to wield it against every social network, that's just not going to work. Also, it's highly possible this "patent" is invaded because so much prior art exists. Classmates.com came out 6 years before that patent and more or less has similar features.

Re: “Groundbreaking” Social Networking Patent at Auction

Eric Willis — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:43:17 -0000

Just another example of why the patent process needs to be overhauled.