Dropsafe

by Alec Muffett

Apple Attempting to Patent RSS Aggregation

Oopsie: [taint.org]

Miguel de Icaza quotes Dave Winer, pointing out two patent applications from Apple which seem intended to grab major chunks of the feed syndication space as Apple “IP”.

The first application is news feed viewer, 20050289147, filed April 13 2005:

A computer-implemented method for displaying a plurality of articles, the method comprising: storing a first feed bookmark in a folder, the first feed bookmark indicating a first feed, the first feed comprising a first plurality of articles; storing a second feed bookmark in the folder, the second feed bookmark indicating a second feed, the second feed comprising a second plurality of articles; aggregating the first feed and the second feed to form a third feed; and displaying the third feed.
I think there were many RSS readers that implemented this, and others from the patent application, before April 2005. I know Liferea, the one I use, has had UI-level aggregation since September 2004, with its VFolders.

Next, news feed browser, 20050289468, filed April 13 2005. This one contains a wide range of claims, but here’s one that stands out as particularly trivial:

A computer-implemented method for discovering a feed, the method comprising: receiving a request to display a file; determining that the file includes relationship XML; determining that a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) within the relationship XML indicates a file that comprises the feed; and displaying one of a group containing the feed and a link to the feed.
That’s pretty much RSS autodiscovery, as described in 2002.

Somehow I think that elements of this patent need to be quoshed. Anyone in America knows what to do?

⊞

Comments

3 responses to “Apple Attempting to Patent RSS Aggregation”

  1. Geoff Arnold
    re: Apple Attempting to Patent RSS Aggregation

    On the sorry state of US patent law, check out this op-ed piece in today’s NYT: http http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/opinion/19crichton.html?th&emc=th

    It begins thus. (Cthulu knows how crypticide’s blog code will hande this content.)

    This Essay Breaks the Law

    By MICHAEL CRICHTON Published: March 19, 2006 • The Earth revolves around the Sun.

    • The speed of light is a constant.

    • Apples fall to earth because of gravity.

    • Elevated blood sugar is linked to diabetes.

    • Elevated uric acid is linked to gout.

    • Elevated homocysteine is linked to heart disease.

    • Elevated homocysteine is linked to B-12 deficiency, so doctors should test homocysteine levels to see whether the patient needs vitamins.

    ACTUALLY, I can’t make that last statement. A corporation has patented that fact, and demands a royalty for its use. Anyone who makes the fact public and encourages doctors to test for the condition and treat it can be sued for royalty fees. Any doctor who reads a patient’s test results and even thinks of vitamin deficiency infringes the patent. A federal circuit court held that mere thinking violates the patent.

    Reply
  2. alecm
    re: Apple Attempting to Patent RSS Aggregation

    …but is anyone going to do anything about it, or should we start referring to it as “Corruption endemic to the American political system”?

    Reply
  3. Stephen Usher
    re: Apple Attempting to Patent RSS Aggregation

    Ah, but it’s not corruption if you change the law to make it legal…

    The trouble is that the current White House is even too inept to do that properly.

    Reply

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