Topic: Possibly the most ridiculous patent case yet...

[Pugnate]

http://kotaku.com/5305851/microsoft-sued-over-xbox-live

In 1994, Peter Hochstein and Jeffrey Tenenbaum patented a method for "communicating live while playing the same video game in separate locations". In 2004, they sued Microsoft, accusing Xbox Live of infringing on that patent.

[Quemaqua]

It's enough to make you want to find people's addresses so you can stab them in their sleep.

I'm going to patent the process of suing people over patents and say I invented it, then we'll put an end to this bullshit.

[Pugnate]

I don't understand one thing. Can you just patent any idea or must you show some work towards that idea first?

[idolminds]

You used to need a working model, but now you can patent ideas with no work to show for it (and no plan to ever work for it, you can just sue anyone that uses "your" idea.)

[WindAndConfusion]

^^^ Actually, in the US, you never even needed a working implementation. All you need is a description sufficient so that someone "skilled in the arts" could replicate it.

With that in mind, you probably won't be surprised if I tell you that many people in the US have owned patents on perpetual motion machines.