You might not know that Microsoft was recently awarded a patent for "the time-based hardware button for application loss." In plain English, that is the mouse double-click. And some consider it to be one of a number of frivolous patents that might well endanger technological innovation and free expression alike.
Filed in July 2002 and granted in late April, the Microsoft double-click patent is described thus by the U.S. Patent Office: "A method and system are provided for extending the functionality of application buttons on a limited resource computing device."
Even Microsoft isn't really sure what that means or what the patent actually covers, according to TechWorld.com.
And that kind of thing is what brings the Electronic Frontier Foundation to a boil. The group recently launched what they call a Patent Busting Project, saying that frivolous patents are already doing far more harm than good.
Read the full story on AVN Online.
