Another Software Patent That Should Be Tossed Out

[OneTimeShot]

Mozilla do this IIRC

IIRC - Mozilla takes too long to build and test every check in, so they run every few hours and auto bisect if they hit a build break.

They've done it for years.

[bridgman]

How the fuck one can patent binary partitioning of search area? This is freaking ancient technique used here and there!

In a previous life I had to chase a bunch of lawyers out of my office who were going around to everyone making Macintosh graphics and threatening to sue them for use of the Exclusive-Or operation in drawing the on-screen pointer. Yep, they had managed to obtain a patent for that.

I happened to have a bunch of prior-art examples handy from my own work pre-dating their patent application, so they went quietly and I didn't have to call security.

[Tgui]

In a previous life I had to chase a bunch of lawyers out of my office who were going around to everyone making Macintosh graphics and threatening to sue them for use of the Exclusive-Or operation in drawing the on-screen pointer. Yep, they had managed to obtain a patent for that.

I happened to have a bunch of prior-art examples handy from my own work pre-dating their patent application, so they went quietly and I didn't have to call security.

*eye twitch*

[A Laggy Grunt]

Something tells me Michael's going to be sued for patent infringement. Typical lawyer logic?

[droidhacker]

I think that some wannabe journalists should try NOT emulating apple by making like they invented something... this technique has been in use for as long as there have been means of tracking changes in source code.

[Delgarde]

How the fuck one can patent binary partitioning of search area? This is freaking ancient technique used here and there!

They're not patenting binary searches - they're patenting an application of binary search techniques to a specific problem domain. Which is still ridiculous, because there's a huge amount of prior art on this, but it's not quite as wide-reaching as you suggest.

As to patents being tossed out - I'd suggest that the people who apply for these patents should also be tossed out... a tenth floor window will do nicely.

[Delgarde]

...they went quietly and I didn't have to call security.

More's the pity...