Previously, we reported on the abomination that is “Tweet Seats,” namely a specific area of seating when patrons can pull out their phones and loudly announce to the entire world what a waste of carbon they are.
Apparently, somebody out there decided that this wasn’t quite appealing enough to our technology reporting, because now it’s getting patent trolled.
How, you may ask, can you patent setting aside some seats for people to pull out a cell phone? Well, the patent in question is kind of like those “audience participation” buttons you sometimes see at sports events, but apparently, deep within the guts of the patent, this guy, Eric Inselberg, lays claim to owning tweeting in public.
“Nowhere does the patent suggest that Inselberg invented the smartphone,” says Sherman, “or any of its underlying technology, nor does it make any claim to having invented Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other program, website or application which easily and freely permits people to communicate with each other and with venues, presenters, and producers on smartphones. They patented the concept of using such things at some point in the future when the technology became available, and now that it has, they seek to profit from it or restrict it.”
Seriously, if you pull out a phone at a public event and tweet, as far as Inselberg is concerned, you owe him money. We really hope this goes to court, because watching Facebook and Twitter drop on this guy like an atom bomb will be hilarious. Just don’t expect it to be live-tweeted: after all, he holds the patent.
(Image courtesy TheNextWeb on Flickr)