Inhaltsverzeichnis
Beispiele zum U.S Patentrecht [123] * „Christmas Tree Stand Watering System,“ U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,176, Feb. 19, 1991 (Christmas tree watering stand shaped like Santa Claus);
„Initiation Apparatus,“ U.S. Pat. No. 819,814, May 8, 1906 („harmless“ way of initiating a candidate into a fraternity by shocking him with electrodes);
„Method of Exercising a Cat,“ U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,036, Aug. 22, 1995 (shining a laser light onto the floor to fascinate a cat and cause it to chase the light);
„Pat on the Back Apparatus,“ U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,967, Sep. 2, 1986 (apparatus with simulated human hand to pat the user on the back);
„Hyper-Light-Speed Antenna,“ U.S. Pat. No. 6,025,810, Feb. 15, 2000 (poking hole in another „dimension“ to transmit RF waves at faster-than-light speed, incidentally accelerating plant growth);
„Force-Sensitive, Sound-Playing Condom,“ U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,447, Nov. 17, 1992 (self-explanatory; for example, it could play „Dixie“);
„Method and System for Placing a Purchase Order via a Communications Network,“ U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,411, Sep. 28, 1999 (Amazon.com's „one-click“ method for purchasing an item on the world wide web by single mouse-click);
„Financial Certificates, System and Process,“ U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,063, Jan. 25, 2000 (inflationindexed gift certificate or mutual fund share);
„Method and System for Measuring Leadership Effectiveness,“ U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,340, Dec. 28, 1999 (assigned to Electronic Data Systems Corporation);
„Sanitary Appliance for Birds,“ U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,858, April 21, 1959 (bird diaper);
„Religious Soap,“ U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,384, Feb. 3, 1976 (bar of soap with religious design on one side and prayer on the other); and
„Method of Preserving the Dead,“ U.S. Pat. No. 748,284, Dec. 29, 1903 (preserving dead person's head in block of glass).
Das Urheberrecht hat zwar nicht zu solch eindeutig absurde Anwendungen geführt, ist jedoch durch Gerichte übermäßig ausgeweitet worden. Ursprünglich sollte es literarische Werke abdecken, ist aber nun auf solche „Werke“ wie Computerprogramme ausgeweitet worden, und sogar auf Machinencode oder Objektcode, welches eher Analog zu einem Teil einer Machine wie eine Nocke zu sehen ist, als zu einem literarischen Werk.[124]
[123] Diese und weitere Patente kann man auf folgende seiten einsehen http://www.delphion.com, http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html, or http://www.patentgopher.com. Siehe auch „Wacky Patent of the Month,“ http://colitz.com/site/wacky.htm; IBM, „Gallery of Obscure Patents,“ http://www.patents.ibm.com/gallery; und Greg Aharonian, „Bustpatents,“ http://www.bustpatents.com.
[124] Final Report, National Commission on New Technological Uses (CONTU) of Copyright Works, July 31, 1978 (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1979); Apple Computer, Inc. v Franklin Computer Corporation, 714 F2d 1240 (3d Cir 1983); NEC Corp. and NEC Electronics, Inc. v Intel Corp., 1989 Copr.L.Dec. ¶ 26,379, 1989 WL 67434 (ND Cal 1989).