Friday, October 19, 2007

Calveley nukes Amazon one-click patent

Peter Calveley has succeeded in getting the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to throw out most of the claims in Amazon's infamous one-click patent, including the broadest claims. Amazon now has an opportunity to respond and convince the USPTO to change its mind, but its prospects are dim. From Peter's report:
In a recent office action, the USPTO has rejected the claims of the Amazon.com one-click patent following the re-examination request that I filed on 16 February 2006.

My review resulted in the broadest claims of the patent being ruled invalid.

In its Office Action released 9 October 2007, the Patent Office found that the prior art I found and submitted completely anticipated the broadest claims of the patent, U.S. Patent No. 5,960,411.

I had only requested the USPTO look at claims 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21 and 22 but the Office Action rejects claims 11-26 and claims 1-5 as well!

I reported on this soon after it got started and am proud to have assisted Peter in this endeavor. Here is Peter's full report.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for helping bring about this very good news. I remember the dismay I felt when I learned about this patent. It was around this time that I considered leaving the IT field as a response to the software-patent insanity.

Anonymous said...

hey, i was reading a 2006 post of yours on habeas corpus. you write that the habeas corpus can be suspended by congress as well? my understanding from past and present cases is that only the president can suspend habeas corpus rights.

Anonymous said...

The power to suspend habeus corpus is listed in Article I along with the other powers and limitations of Congress. It is not however listed as a power of the President.