Thanks to Ryan92...
Microsoft, amid an IP spree that has won the company patent protection for everything from XML dialects to video game storage methods, mistakenly received a patent on Tuesday for a new variety of apple tree.
U.S. Plant Patent 14,757, granted to Robert Burchinal of East Wenatchee, Wash., and assigned to Microsoft, covers a new type of tree discovered in the early 1990s in the Wenatchee area, a major commercial apple-growing region. Dubbed the "Burchinal Red Delicious," the tree is notable for producing fruit that achieves a deep red color significantly earlier than other varieties. It is sold commercially as the "Adams Apple."
According to the patent, there are currently about 1,000 samples of the tree growing in the area of Wenatchee, a rural town about 90 miles east of Microsoft's home base of Redmond.
Other than the assignee field, the patent makes no reference to Microsoft to explain the software giant's apparent new horticultural interest.
Burchinal declined to comment on the patent, but a member of his household said the Microsoft assignation was likely an error.
A Microsoft representative confirmed that the assigning of the patent to the company was a mistake, after the apple paperwork was misfiled with a group of applications from a legal firm commonly used by the software giant. Microsoft has filed with the Patent Office for a certificate of correction to re-assign the patent to Burchinal, the representative said.
The apple claim, however brief, is the first botanical entry in Microsoft's patent portfolio. But the software giant has been a prolific patent generator in other areas. The company embarked on a campaign late last year to generate more revenue from its patent portfolio, offering to license widely used inventions such as its ClearType font technology and FAT storage format.
View: The full story
News source: CNET News
Microsoft, amid an IP spree that has won the company patent protection for everything from XML dialects to video game storage methods, mistakenly received a patent on Tuesday for a new variety of apple tree.
U.S. Plant Patent 14,757, granted to Robert Burchinal of East Wenatchee, Wash., and assigned to Microsoft, covers a new type of tree discovered in the early 1990s in the Wenatchee area, a major commercial apple-growing region. Dubbed the "Burchinal Red Delicious," the tree is notable for producing fruit that achieves a deep red color significantly earlier than other varieties. It is sold commercially as the "Adams Apple."
According to the patent, there are currently about 1,000 samples of the tree growing in the area of Wenatchee, a rural town about 90 miles east of Microsoft's home base of Redmond.
Other than the assignee field, the patent makes no reference to Microsoft to explain the software giant's apparent new horticultural interest.
Burchinal declined to comment on the patent, but a member of his household said the Microsoft assignation was likely an error.
A Microsoft representative confirmed that the assigning of the patent to the company was a mistake, after the apple paperwork was misfiled with a group of applications from a legal firm commonly used by the software giant. Microsoft has filed with the Patent Office for a certificate of correction to re-assign the patent to Burchinal, the representative said.
The apple claim, however brief, is the first botanical entry in Microsoft's patent portfolio. But the software giant has been a prolific patent generator in other areas. The company embarked on a campaign late last year to generate more revenue from its patent portfolio, offering to license widely used inventions such as its ClearType font technology and FAT storage format.
View: The full story News source: CNET News
"Getting wider buy-in for the project wasn't just about ROI, it was about fitting in with the values we seek to embody as an HR consultancy. Having said that we've seen a 10% increase in billable hours with our consultants, as they have been able to utilise that dead time that traditionally existed when travelling."
Nigel said that the technology had personally benefited him recently. He explained: "I flew from London to Manchester and spent an hour catching up on all of my correspondence. This meant that when I arrived at the meeting I was up to speed with all the developments. We're now developing profiling tools that will see staff issued with Windows Mobile-based devices or laptops depending on how they work."
Sounds kinky!
I was so thinking that their world domination was finaly here.
LOL
they didnt apply for it, it was assigned to them and they acknowledged that it was a mistake.
I don't think you can patent an animal, unless you engineer it yourself. But I don't know, I didn't see much in the 2 minutes spent searching. But don't think of making a human-animal hybrid, it's already patented.
Display Control Panel > Appearance > Effects > Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts > Standard
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