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Warning: if this article already made you angry, reading the actual patents will turn your rage up to 11.

These are some of the most general and obvious patents I've seen used in a lawsuit like this in a while.

The question is are these methods general and obvious only because it's been the norm for almost 20 years? I would say, yes.

A more appropriate question may be whether those methods would be general and obvious in present day if they hadn't been invented 20 years ago.

I would say, yes.

Display a loading image while waiting on a document? The only "innovation" that got them the patent was that they claimed displaying a smaller image on a smaller screen was somehow groundbreaking.

Don't wait for a background image to finish downloading before displaying web page text? Who would think waiting was a great idea in the first place?

I don't think either of these is somehow an feat of software engineering that should grant them the ability to extort money from companies creating innovative software in 2011.

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