A restaurant has applied for a bunch of patents on putting boxes of cereal on display and putting some in a bowl and then putting milk in the bowl. This is the final straw for the good folks at FreeCulture, and they've launched a campaign to use this ridiculous affair to show why business-method patents are unbelievably stupid:
However, recently cereal bar chain Cereality (which has no locations in Florida) threatened Bowls with lawsuits should Bowls tread on Cereality's turf. Cereality has patents pending to give them an exclusive right to six business methods, including "displaying and mixing competitively branded food products" and adding "a third portion of liquid." If these patents are approved by the U.S. Patent Office, Cereality would have a complete monopoly on cereal bar business–just for being the first to put together the legalese necessary to describe mixing breakfast cereal.
(Thanks, Gavin!)
