IBM Patents the Electronic Checkbox

Despite claims that the patent process will be radically reformed, looks like it's business as usual at the good old U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The latest in the battle to see who can register the most absurd, obvious "technology" as a patent goes to IBM, which has won a patent for "mode switching for ad hoc checkbox selection," or, in other words, checking a box.

No attorneys have weighed in on this patent, but it certainly looks frivolous. Though it's not exactly the same as checking a box (but rather dragging your mouse across a series of boxes to select them en masse; imagine drawing a line through a bunch of boxes at once), this is overall not much more original than patenting the Q button on your PC.

Meanwhile, legislators are at least starting to take notice. Marketwatch reported last month that an Iowa doctor is suing Apple over the iPhone's touchscreen, which he says he patented previously. The House of Representatives recently passed the Patent Reform Act of 2007, though it now faces opposition in the Senate. Here's to hoping for a little more sanity in the system!

LINK: IBM Patents Checking a Box