Micorsoft Frowned At For Smiley Patent

We all use them. The little :) ;) and :( faces. There are literally hundreds of variations of these and they are called "emoticons". Emoticons are a form of communicating emotion thru text online. They are never meant to substitute for real human feelings, but to be used as an aid in helping one express what they are saying. They come in handy when face-to-face meetings aren't always possible, or in the case of many offices co-workers, they rather e-mail or IM their message than actually go and speak to their bastard of a boss. We use emotioncons so much that it's become second nature, myself included.

Art that's a little disturbing, but clever.

In the past even when I would hand my secretary some papers that needed to be done, I would attach a handwritten sticky note on top that would include an emoticon. The message would have some brief instructions that I wanted her to do along with a "thanks :)". So what if you could no longer use the smiley face we have all grown to love? Even worse, what if you could actually be sued for typing :) ? Well that day may be here sooner than you think!

A software patent filed by Microsoft has been described as "very dangerous". Various organizations have criticized Microsoft for attempting to patent the creation of custom emoticons. The patent application, which was published by the US Patent Office last week, covers selecting pixels to create an emoticon image, assigning a character sequence to these pixels and reconstructing the emoticon after transmission. This is such a basic concept that many would not have been surprised to see it posted as a fictional patent on a technology site. You would expect to see something like this suggested by some kid as a joke on Slashdot and probably would have chuckled at the absurdity of the notion. Although we now appear to be living in a world where even the most laughable patents are being defended by well-funded armies of lawyers on behalf of some of the most powerful companies on the planet - in walks no other than Microsoft.

Patents were ultimately designed to benefit society - to have companies disclose things that benefit society which they wouldn't otherwise disclose. Who does this patent benefit? Well according to a Microsoft spokesperson, the comments on its patent applications can be submitted to the US patent office (great job BSing to avoid really answering the question). The spokesperson goes on to state that Microsoft receives dozens of patents every week and they support the ability of anyone to submit prior art or input on a patent application with relevant authorities before a patent is issued. Rrrrright. So to put it in simple terms - Microsoft is just giving everyone more ammo against them as to why they are one HUGE monopoly.