To quote an anonymous someone from the USPO...... "We are not in the business of rejecting patents" Gus > On Jul 10, 2009, at 3:47 PM, Chris McSweeny wrote: > > On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 10:31 PM, Peter wrote: >> How exactly one can patent something that has been used for ages in >> the mining >> and aerospace industries at least, even disregarding efficiency >> issues and so >> on, is jus beyond my comprehension. I found the patent while >> looking for my own >> page on google. > > Because the US patent office would appear not to do any checking at > all for prior art - preferring to make their money on the application > whether or not it's actually valid, and then let people fight it out > in the courts. Far from the first example of this I've seen - the > system is basically broken. > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist