“Techdirt”, yeah there’s a source that’s qualified to offer opinions on IP law.
Look, everything is obvious after someone thinks it up. Amazon’s patent is no more “a joke” than countless others, depending on whose ox is being gored. Getting a patent is relatively easy (I have several) - the real work comes when you successfully defend it in court, and that’s what Amazon has now done. Good for them, they played by the rules and won.
I kind of like the fact all other sites will give you one more chance to consider"do I really want this item?"
Does the patent really make it illegal for another site to allow purchasing from existing customers by using one click, or does it just stop them from using the term 1-click? I’m guessing the 1st, since the 2nd would be copyright or trademark. But I don’t know how anybody could patent the idea of saving information and using it to accomplish a task in a single click.
Of course, I never use Amazon 1-click, because I’m afraid I’ll make a mistake and won’t get a chance to fix it.
I am a strong supporter of intellectual property rights, but this is ridiculous. I always thought that patents are granted only for inventions that are novel, useful, and not obvious.