[via Scripting News] An article from News.com:

America Online has quietly secured a patent that could shake up the competitive landscape for instant messaging software.

"The claim is it's a system where you have a network; you have a way to monitor who's on the network; and if you want to talk to them you hook them up," said Gregory Aharonian, publisher of Internet Patent News Service, a newsletter that's critical of technology patents. "If you're doing something like that, you're potentially infringing."

Talk about a broad patent... and the patent office apparently asleep at the switch as usual.

Categories: technology
Posted by diego on December 18 2002 at 1:43 AM