(illustration from User Friendly)
Some asshat has figured out a way to end literature in Western civilization. This butthead has decided to patent storylines. Here's a bit from their webpage:
"Knight and Associates is the first patent prosecution firm to attempt to obtain utility patent protection on fictional plots. Knight and Associates consists of Andrew Knight and a team of independent contractors comprising skilled writers and experienced patent attorneys, ready to turn valuable new fictional plots or storylines into U.S. utility patent applications. "
Sure as hell there'll be a wave of bullshit lawsuits against bestselling authors as soon as someone can claim they had an story idea first.
In Dante's inferno wasn't there a pit in hell, where the damned were forced to wade chest deep in shit? Their mouths had been replaced with an anus, and when they sp0ke the shit got deeper.
Perfect place for this guy.
F******g lawyers.
2 comments:
Where would rock-n-roll be if all the great blues legends of the 30's and 40's had been able to patent those 3 chord riffs and screaming lead licks?
Of course, if this bastard is successful, all one needs to win in litigation is to demonstrate that a fundamental theme of the story was used in a story that predates his patent. One cannot patent something that is already in common use.
For example, there is not a utility patent in effect for a hammer or a rake or other tools that have been around for eons. One can invent a new type of hammer with unique design or branding characteristics and patent those, but the concept of using a heavy swinging object as an impact tool is beyond the reach of the patent office.
I'm betting it'll cost him more than it will earn him.
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