Amazon patents photographing with white background.

SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
edited May 18, 2014 in Mind Your Own Business
I kid you not. What the heck can anyone say about such total brain dead (people?) who work, er draw a paycheck at the patent office?

Sam

http://gizmodo.com/amazons-revolutionary-new-patent-taking-photos-on-a-wh-1573645285
www.samlinvillephotography.com

Comments

  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,962 moderator
    edited May 9, 2014
    Yeah, I saw that. It's getting to be just about impossible to distinguish between the real news and The Onion.
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  • mercphotomercphoto Registered Users Posts: 4,550 Major grins
    edited May 9, 2014
    Being in the tech world for 25 years now its an inside joke about how absurd our patent system is. The things you can get granted are just ridiculous. And then the patent office changed how they rate and reward their employees and things just got worse. Throughput went up, which meant that scrutiny went down. The idea is "just grant it, if its invalid that's for the courts to decide".

    Besides, anymore patents are nothing to do with protecting your own investment in original ideas. They are for strangling competition. Period.
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  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited May 11, 2014
    Score plus-one to Amazon's patent department for landing another useless and non-defensible nuisance patent. Score minus-infinity to Amazon's photography staff whose secret techniques for high-key product photography have now been made public to the world in excruciating detail. deal.gif
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  • WillCADWillCAD Registered Users Posts: 722 Major grins
    edited May 11, 2014
    Of course, Amazon is a huge corporation with enough lawyers that, even if the patent is absolutely indefensible, they could conceivably use this as a legal bludgeon technique against smaller companies or individuals they want to harass out of business or bankrupt into submission.
    What I said when I saw the Grand Canyon for the first time: "The wide ain't wide enough and the zoom don't zoom enough!"
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited May 12, 2014
    I just sent an email to Amazon's patent department asking about licensing this technology for my photography business.

    Any guess as to what if any response I might get? :D

    Sam
    www.samlinvillephotography.com
  • PhotoDavid78PhotoDavid78 Registered Users Posts: 939 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2014
    In case you guys didn't already see it...Steven Colbert did a pretty funny Skit on this

    http://petapixel.com/2014/05/16/stephen-colbert-goes-amazon-ridiculous-photography-patent/
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  • AceCo55AceCo55 Registered Users Posts: 950 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2014
    On another forum it was a suggested that this was a defensive move by Amazon.
    Their view was Amazon wanted to make sure that they would not be liable to some-one else for the way they set up their product shots.
    They believed that Amazon were not interested in chasing other photographer's - they just wanted to make sure they could use their setup with any hassle.

    ne_nau.gif
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  • PhotoDavid78PhotoDavid78 Registered Users Posts: 939 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2014
    AceCo55 wrote: »
    On another forum it was a suggested that this was a defensive move by Amazon.
    Their view was Amazon wanted to make sure that they would not be liable to some-one else for the way they set up their product shots.
    They believed that Amazon were not interested in chasing other photographer's - they just wanted to make sure they could use their setup with any hassle.

    ne_nau.gif

    I agree, usually patent trolls don't team up with large companies.
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  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2014
    AceCo55 wrote: »
    On another forum it was a suggested that this was a defensive move by Amazon.
    Their view was Amazon wanted to make sure that they would not be liable to some-one else for the way they set up their product shots.
    They believed that Amazon were not interested in chasing other photographer's - they just wanted to make sure they could use their setup with any hassle.

    ne_nau.gif

    Sadly this explanation seems like the best so far. Am I the only one who sees the illogical Orwellian thought process here that is presented as a rational reason to obtain a completely invalid nonsensical patent?

    Also please note the silence from Amazon with regard to this issue. One might think that after the brain dead granting of the patent and the subsequent discussions in the photographic community they would have a made public statement clarifying this issue.

    Update: I am still waiting for a reply from Amazon's patent department.

    Sam
    www.samlinvillephotography.com
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,962 moderator
    edited May 17, 2014
    AceCo55 wrote: »
    On another forum it was a suggested that this was a defensive move by Amazon.
    Their view was Amazon wanted to make sure that they would not be liable to some-one else for the way they set up their product shots.
    My first reaction was to think, that makes sense. On reflection, I realized that it's simply batshit insane. Not Amazon's actions but the whole system that permits/encourages/requires it.
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  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2014
    Richard wrote: »
    My first reaction was to think, that makes sense. On reflection, I realized that it's simply batshit insane. Not Amazon's actions but the whole system that permits/encourages/requires it.

    A man with his eyes open...........................we will need to look into re-educating you......:D

    Sam
    www.samlinvillephotography.com
  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,245 moderator
    edited May 18, 2014
    None of these bizarre patents surprise me anymore following the patents awarded the photographing of sports competitors crossing finishing lines while wearing their registration numbers. If Amazon gets snippy with this and begins suing others for shooting people/products in a similar way, then that would be terrible.
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