Appleby Patent Office

I would like to introduce my new business: Appleby Patents.

What we do is take your ideas and models and patent them, meaning that if another person is found selling it, they can be punished with a little help from the Lindens. If you want to patent something, then just IM me, and show me the product. I will then do research to make sure that it hasn't been stolen, and if I find it clean and good, your patent will be granted. I will give you a no mod no copy object with the name of your patent and the thing you patented in it's inventory, plus a notecard with a special code. If someone is found sellling this item then presenting this patent will be proof that you are the creator. Note that if the code doesn't match the patent will be ignored. Protect your item today! IM or PM me.

Hmmm...think D&D Dogs can be your first customer?

Sure just PM or IM me Drift

sounds like an interesting concept. Are the Lindens supporting it?

Kind of sad that this has come to be a needed service, but a good idea, nonetheless. What do you intend to do in cases where there is a similar product, script or service, but obviously independant development? I know that there are at least three groups working separately on private teleportation systems, for instance...

Can you do copyright for business names?

Yes RS, I can.


David, as I said, my patents only cover a specific script. Ideas are in the public domain. Meathods to excute these ideas, on the other hand, are not.

I think this is a very good idea.
And really, it doesn't even really need Linden support. I think publically lambasting someone as a proven thief would do wonders. Kill their reputation, perhaps cause people to rate them badly, if they have builds, not vote at it, and not purchase from their shops if they're business people. Perhaps build a 'wall of shame' in-world with a list of people who are proven thieves.

what are the costs for getting items patented? are there any and can a appointment for showing items be arranged?

Someone asked me today about abusing the patent system by patenting something already done. Like I said, just because you apply for a patent it doesn't mean I'll grant it. It doesn't have to be that you weren't the first to invent it, but if I feel it will stunt the creativity of the community then I will not grant you a patent.

Jack: Patents are free, and to show them to me just IM me or PM me.

Great job man, im gonna patent my weapons, the script in my weapons, and my company name.

Ryen, a company name would be a trademark, not a patent.

Also, most of your weapons that I've seen aren't originals. They're reproductions of real-life weapons. It's highly inappropriate to try to get a patent on something you copied, in an attempt to prevent other people from copying it, too.

Scripts, on the other hand, are perfectly fine. Assuming you wrote the scripts yourself, and they aren't standard weapon scripts.

True tradmark, my bad

Also there are 2 weapons that no-one has ever done before that im patenting, the c3 stinger and the xg360 assualt rifle, both can be found at my store

and the 2 ( and only 2 ) real world weapons i MADE is the usp match and the colt 1911, both of which no-one has done before.

These are the ones I'm talking about. I don't think you should be able to patent these.

If I make one of these, neither you, nor anyone else, have any way of knowing whether I copied yours in-game, modelled it after the one I have sitting on my desk, or modelled it out of a picture in a magazine.

lol trust me when i say mine are original, i add my own little twist to all weapons i make, so you will be able to tell the difference.

Interesting idea, I think it would be much better if there were specified Linden support though as well as specified remedies. Imagine the following situation:

John Doe files a patent with you for some new door opening mechanism. You do your research and issue a patent.

Bob Doe is found to have a very similar object that he didn't purchase from John Doe.

You put Bob Doe on the wall of shame, and subsequently his ratings go so low he leaves Second Life in frustration.

Subsequently the Lindens examine the records and find that Bob Doe created his object first, but simply didn't register it with you or advertise it. John Doe got an unlocked copy of the object, modified it to obscure the origin and patented it with you.

Now what do we do?

It might not be a bad idea for Linden to appoint some people to arbitrate disputes such as this. The arbiters could do the fact-finding and report the results back to Lindens. If disciplinary action were thought by the arbiter to be needed, the "citizen" involved would have the right to an appeal of some sort first.

As the user base grows there will (has) almost certainly be delegation of authority to users to resolve certain issues, the important thing will be that these people do not act totally on their own and are always subject to review of their own actions so that people do not suspect corruption or conspiracy.

Mac, "research" means that I make sure that it is original, 100%. And, if something like that happens, then I will take the patent away from John Doe and call it a misunderstanding.

And Ryen, I took a look at your stuff, and I refuse to patent it under the terms of it being a model made after something IRL, thus possibly stunting the creativity of others. Also, not only did you not make the scripts, but the meathod used to fire the bullet was first used by Cory Linden, and is also widely used around SL. Sorry, just can't do it.

Great discussion!

It is definitely an interesting observation that 'patentable' things in SL would be heavily tied to scripts that do things is novel ways.

The original US PTO (Patent and Trademark Office) served as both a short term (originally 3 years) protection for inventors to make money on their work, and as a general publishing house for these ideas once they entered the public domain. It was an enabler for the rapid technological growth of the nation.

The general concept of a patentable thing is something whose workings are without prior art, is defensibly novel (not obvious), and is provably useful (specific embodiment). Cetainly many clever scripted objects in SL fall into this definition. Interesting to think about. In particular, what would be the right 'term' for patents in SL.

I rarely post but I have this to say:

In the "real world", allowing software patents has done much to stifle innovation and honest competition. I am dubious that it would be any different in SL.

With regards,
Antagonistic Protagonist

I don’t like this idea, it seems like it could be very limiting. It is very similar to some of the self governing discussions we have had before. There are many similar creations in SL, who is to judge who what belongs too. Creativity breeds itself. This will stifle it.

I pulled out a scripted object that Xavier VonLenard created months ago, and all I heard was "oh the wheel of fortune". Nope, Xavier created this quite awhile ago, and probs has never seen the wheel. Both objects are very similar, both were created independently, and both are very cool.

I can see this as a way for noobs and those less proficient in certain skills to get terribly screwed.

For example, Ama has lots of arcades around, if he patents these, no one else can? Does this mean no one else can set up gambling booths? That would be terribly unfair. If not and with the new promised protections, why would Ama need a patent anyway?

Who is to decide what objects " workings are without prior art, is defensibly novel (not obvious), and is provably useful (specific embodiment)"? You have no idea what is in someone else's inventory and maybe they didn’t bring it to the patent office for your approval.

I don’t think this should exist unless the ENTIRE community supports this. I can't, there are just too many gray areas. You think taxes are limiting, wait until your creativity is, what - accused, punished, prosecuted- for infringing on someone else's patent.

fen-

Ok Fen why'd ya have to go pull me into this discussion eh? You know I hate posting on these boards.

Its the last line that I agree with most. Assuming we get adaquit protections on our crations then I don't think a patent office is necesary.

And Philip brought up a good point - what would the term be??

Patents if done right can actually help the public domain. After the patent expires, the patent becomes public domain and anyone may use it.

For SL .... I would think about 1 month a decent patent time, maybe 2 and I could never support more than 3.

For RL software copyrights the problem is the length of term. Imagine the innovation that would occur if patented/copyrighted software expired after 3 or 4 years, at which point it entered the public domain? With the length of copyright I think the first pieces of copyrighted software were released to public domain just last year. That is software made in the 1930's I think.

A few people seem to be missing the fact that just because you apply for a patent, it doesn't mean I'll give you one. Really, I've turned down most of the people that applied because I believe it would stunt the creativity of others. I only granted two to titles and logos, and to two people I granted a Darwin Public Licence (DPL, which is kinda like GPL except in SL). This way the maker can distribute it WITH source, and allow the buyer to play with the script, modify it, and distribute it for free, as long as he/she doesn't sell it.

Oh and one more thing: The term for trademarks and logos is every 1 and a half months, but DPLs don't expire unless I say otherwise (i.e. revolking them).

Darwin,

How can you enforce this? And for me, this is too much power for one person. I am not saying you are not trying to do the right thing, I believe you are.

And just to emphasis my previous post point, did you know you are not the first to have the shield of invisibility? We had that back in beta, and then there were some changes and it was taken away from us.


fen-

Well I keep a record of the patent and a discription of it in my database, and the person with the patent has a small no copy object with a notecard containing their key. If they present that key, and if it matches with my key in the database, the patent is verified. If someone is found breaking the terms of the patent they can be reported to a Linden, and the patent will serve as proof.

And yes, I know I'm not the first person with a sheild of invisibility, but the one before mine only hid things with alpha channels which is a bit of a downer.

On a side note, I have already made sure that I am not to patent any of my own objects

Q: arent there a finite nuber of ways to reach an end with LSL?

im not a scripter, and most of that type of stuff is Greek to me, but it seems there would be a limit to the different ways you could accomplish something. as i understand it , lsl has a list of set functions. also what about incorporating existing script into a larger 'program' (for lack of better term), would each individual piece be looked at or would it be taken as a whole.

just some thoughts from a layman