U.S. Patent Office Publishes the First Patent Application to Claim a Fictional Storyline

eMedia Wire ^ | 3 November 2005

[Fractal Trader]

So this hasn't yet been approved yet, but with the way patent law is changing, maybe we will eventually get to the point where people succeed in patenting their stories. People who write Zombie stories may have to be on the defensive if this patent is granted.

Sounds like a strange, new world to me.

[Maceman]

I'm going to patent the Blues chord progression.

[ladtx]

Sounds like a Scrappleface story.

[flashbunny]

so I guess he's trying to make some kind of statement with this?

[dirtboy]

They say you can't copyright an idea.

But apparently you can now patent one.

This is more screwed up than the patent given to the onco-mouse years ago that utilized existing processes.

[null and void]

Huh? A Patent expires in 20 years. A Copyright lasts MUCH longer...

[twigs]

Well, his storyline sounds like one I could do without reading or seeing for at least 30 years. Isn't he borrowing his idea a bit from Washington Irving, but with a modern twist?

[CharlesWayneCT]

That sounds too close to the storyline for the movie "13 going on 30", so I would say he doesn't meet the criteria of originality.

[gondramB]

This problem really started with software patents and seems to be getting out of hand.

It's one thing to protect Lotus123 its different to patent one click purchasing (like Amazon did) and now people are claiming patents for linking to a web page and fictional stories... it's going to stifle innovation if we are not careful.

[JamesP81]

There goes my nascent career in writing.

[z3n]

By the time the information age and intellectual propery has run it's course, you will not be able to breathe without violating someone else's claims.

I getting really sick of the bastardization of what was once a method for protecting the creative and innovative. "Intellectual Property" is fast becoming a tool to generate false scarcity on everything conceivable in order to create new forms of profiteering.

[Clock King]

Knight, a rocket engine inventor,

So what, he PLAYS with rockets??? I don't buy this guy for a second. Unfortunately, the nitwits in DC will.

[robertpaulsen]

"... tells of an ambitious high school senior, consumed by anticipation of college admission, who prays one night to remain unconscious until receiving his MIT admissions letter."

Damn! I had the same idea, but he was waiting for a letter from Harvard.

That's different enough, huh?

[MortMan]

desperately seeks to regain 30 years’ worth of memories lost as an unconscious philosophical zombie.

Sounds like a democrat.

[doc30]

The point isn't whether it's patentable or not, but, if issued, who will spend the $$$ in court to invalidate the patent claim?

[Lil'freeper]

Interesting.

[hershey]

Not good at all.

[Atlas Sneezed]

But apparently you can now patent one.

---

No you can't. But you can apply. I guarantee that it won't be granted. Pretty nifty $500 publicity stunt!

[vollmond]

Jennifer Garner just starred in a movie that was roughly similiar.

[13foxtrot]

It won't be issued.