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One does not have go much further than learning of a patent called “Method of swinging on a swing” to realize that something is terribly wrong with the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). Luckily, reformers like Echoing Green Fellow, Daniel Ravicher, featured in last week’s Christian Science Monitor, push the PTO to limit granting patents that are undeserving. Take for example, a more potentially harmful patent from Cygnus Systems which threatens giants like Google, Apple, and Microsoft for displaying thumbnail images for computer documents, which arguably should never have been issued because of prior existence.

To be granted a patent, an invention needs pass three tests: to be new, useful, and non-obvious. Neither a tree swinging method nor possibly thousands of other already granted patents may qualify under those three terms. One reason for the loose granting of patents is that the PTO is overloaded with applications. Daniel points out how nothing prevents “unscrupulous submitters” who resubmit their applications and thereby clog the reviewing process. Until this application flow is reduced to a manageable level, don’t be surprised to see more absurdities.

Do you know of other patents that should never have been issued? You can search 7 million patents at http://www.google.com/patents.

(special thanks to our intern Jerry Nguyen for this post).