IBM has filed a Patent Application, titled "Methodologies and analytics tools for identifying white space opportunities in a given industry," that, if I understand this, seeks a patent on an textual analysis algorithm that will identify patents that haven't been applied for. "White space" is a term used to describe places where little or no proprietary intellectual property has been identified
It's a bit like reviewing deeds and plot plans in a given area to find slices of land that weren't owned by anyone and then laying claim to those chunks, often for no more than the filing fee. This patent that IBM proposes is, of course, a lot more sophisticated and weird. You're (well, your computers are) reading lots and lots of data to find out what isn't said and then deciding if what isn't said is worth saying to the point of patenting it.
Or, perhaps, locating the parts of our brains that aren't working and doing you the favor of getting those parts out of the way.
Patent story via Slashdot Firehose.
No comments:
Post a Comment