Florida based company "Channel Intelligence" filed for patent infringement on Tuesday against multitude of people and companies that offer "wishlists".
Specifically, the wishlists in question are lists of desired products from the defendant's websites that the user would like to purchase, which are then stored in some form or other on a database.
CI are claiming that allowing users to create these lists needs their permission as they are the owners of patent 6,917,941 - "
A method for configuring a database system to store information regarding a plurality of items", which was issued in July 2005.
Strangely (or not), CI have not made claims against larger companies such as Amazon, Ebay and other large online retailers, all of whom are offering exactly what CI have patented.
Surely the
USPTO needs to start reviewing it's practices for Intellectual Property if more and more frivolous 'inventions' like this are going to become weapons for taking other peoples money?
View:
US Patent 6,917,941
Link:
Full Story @ TechCrunch Read full story...
More...