Microsoft frowned at for smiley patent

daRk_heLmet · Jul 24, 2005, 05:31 AM

Various organisations have criticised Microsoft for attempting to patent the creation of custom emoticons.

The patent, which was published by the US patent office on Thursday, covers selecting pixels to create an emoticon image, assigning a character sequence to these pixels and reconstructing the emoticon after transmission.

Mark Taylor, the executive director of the Open Source Consortium, said on Friday said this is such a basic concept that he would not have been surprised to see it posted as a fictional patent on a technology site.
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Read More/Source: ZDnet

WaltC · Jul 24, 2005, 10:56 PM

I'd imagine MS will have one heck of a time trying to get this through a prior art test--which it certainly cannot pass...

(Note the smiley reconstructed from the pixel array I created in the first application (FF) that was reconstructed by the second application (DH) as an emoticon.) Good luck on this one doing anything for you, MS...

Jul 24, 2005, 05:31 AM	#1
daRk_heLmet Keep firing, assholes! Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Death Star Posts: 1,072 Rep Power: 0	Microsoft frowned at for smiley patent Various organisations have criticised Microsoft for attempting to patent the creation of custom emoticons. The patent, which was published by the US patent office on Thursday, covers selecting pixels to create an emoticon image, assigning a character sequence to these pixels and reconstructing the emoticon after transmission. Mark Taylor, the executive director of the Open Source Consortium, said on Friday said this is such a basic concept that he would not have been surprised to see it posted as a fictional patent on a technology site. ______________________ Read More/Source: ZDnet __________________ [color=white]My Blog[/color]

Jul 24, 2005, 10:56 PM	#2
WaltC DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: May 2003 Location: Deep in Martian soil where it's warm and the air is good Posts: 245 Rep Power: 0	I'd imagine MS will have one heck of a time trying to get this through a prior art test--which it certainly cannot pass... (Note the smiley reconstructed from the pixel array I created in the first application (FF) that was reconstructed by the second application (DH) as an emoticon.) Good luck on this one doing anything for you, MS...