Microsoft "911" patent 6882706

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Dennis Allison <allison () shasta stanford edu>
Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 13:31:52 -0700 (PDT)
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Microsoft "911" patent 6882706


For IP if you wish, but please elide my name--

Microsoft was just issued US 6882706, yet another glaring example of the
many failures of the patent system.  I've copied out the abstract and the
primary independent claim below so IP readers can get independently
outraged.

Where is the innovation here? How does granting "exclusive right" to this
"discovery" "promote the progress of science and the useful arts"?
(Constitution, Article 1, Section 8)  What about prior art?  Isn't the
"what to do in an emergency" listing in the front of the telephone book
much the same thing?

Microsoft and the "inventor" should be embarrassed for having filed for a
patent on such a mundane idea.  The patent office should be embarrassed
for having issued such a patent.  And, if there truly is some intellectual
property content in this idea, would it not have been better for Microsoft
to make a public disclosure of the idea and place it in the public domain?

--------------------

Method and system of providing emergency data

Abstract

A method and system for providing access to emergency data. Emergency data
is collected from various sources and maintained such that it can be
efficiently recalled in an emergency. In one implementation, the data is
maintained in XML documents. An emergency application program provides a
page and/or sub-pages via which a user interacts to obtain the data. The
data is typed according to types of emergencies to facilitate user access
to the appropriate data when needed. The emergency data may be
automatically loaded from a remote source, such as a .NET service, or
provided by a retailer. Actions may be associated with emergency data,
such as to provide an easy or automated way to send an alert, email
message, and the like in the event of an emergency.

Claim 1.

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

  maintaining a plurality of records in an emergency data store, each
record comprising emergency data and having type of emergency information
associated therewith that classifies the record as corresponding to at
least one type of emergency;
  providing an emergency page, the emergency page including a plurality of
emergency type links, each emergency type link corresponding to a
particular type of emergency;
  receiving an indication that an emergency type link was actuated, and in
response,
  accessing the emergency data store to locate at least two records that are
each associated with the type of emergency that corresponds to the
actuated link;
  aggregating the data from each located record into aggregated emergency
data; and
  providing an emergency sub-page based on the aggregated emergency data.




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