

Google Grabs Patent for Web-Based Translation - wigginus
http://gigaom.com/2011/01/25/google-grabs-patent-for-web-based-translation/

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tristanperry
A patent for something that shouldn't be patentable? Bah. It's nothing against
Google (who I'm a fan of), but a patent for _"displaying original text in a
user interface with translated text"_ just seems farcical.

What's next, a patent for _"displaying relevant search results in a user
interface with a given search query"_?!?

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jacquesm
> displaying relevant search results in a user interface with a given search
> query

If there wasn't plenty of prior art I'm fairly sure they would have done just
that. You can't blame them either, even if you disagree with software patents,
they're just another weapon in the armory of a corporation and if everybody
else uses it you had better use it too.

The system is what's broken, google is just using the system to its fullest.

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dhimes
That doesn't excuse it. You can make the same argument about Microsoft, who
apparently thought it would be more profitable to engage in illegal
monopolistic practices and then fight the ensuing legal battles than to
operate legally.

Now I concede that I may not understand defensive patents very well, but if
any company is able to document an "invention" in order to demonstrate prior
art and drive away patent trolls it would be Google. And they could set a nice
precedent by taking exactly that tack.

Just because you are able to do something doesn't mean that you should do it.
And when you do bad things just because you are able, you are evil.

I'm hoping someone sheds some light on more than meets the eye here.

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jacquesm
Oh, I fully agree that it's evil, it's just that the whole bloody industry
pretty much engages in this.

And that isn't an excuse by any stretch of the imagination, it's just that if
they didn't they'd be buried in patent lawsuits and they'd have nothing to
strike back with except for endless litigation. Typically the big guys cross
license and everybody pretends it's fine. Business as usual, sad as it is.

The losers are the smaller innovators.

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monochromatic
"At least, the US Patent Office thinks so — enough to award Google Translate a
patent."

It's a patent application, not a patent. No one's been awarded anything.

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Vivtek
They're _trying_ to raise my blood pressure, aren't they? Patents _and_ poor
translation all in one article? Grar!

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phlux
Can wordlens grab a patent for device based visual translation in real-time?

