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Comment by helsinkiandrew | Hacker News Reader

> The last patent Jobs applied for was the dramatic glass cube for the entrance to the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York

A patent for a glass cube!

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/28/89/c3/fd8ac1d...

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* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_patent

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_design_right

When you learn to patent ideas every idea looks like a patentable idea...

I would say something similar: it is very tempting to patent stuff when you can just trigger a whole patenting process with a single email or message.

Exactly. I don't say it is not possible for somebody to have 400 original patents, but I think it is incompatible with also having a full time job as a CEO of a large company if you had to do them yourself.

Also it is worth noting that ideas are a dime a dozen. Years ago I red Getting Things Done by David Allen and I set up my GTD system in Ultra Recall. Since then, I had the idea for the best personal information management system ever. Too bad, I carried the idea with me for too long and never executed on it. Recently I discovered that somebody had very similar idea and the application is called Notion.

See, it does not matter if you have an idea, it only has any worth if you can also execute on it.

in what way is Notion “the best personal information management system ever”?

I certainly don't think notion is the best, but the poster possibly thinks notion aligns with their earlier vision and what they consider "the best".

You should patent that process.

a design patent that is.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Patently absurd, even

May sound ridiculous but still needs to be done to protect their identity from less reputable ripoffs that may otherwise just intentionally and exactly clone the design.

To my understanding, trademark law should already "protect their identity" by preventing use of their logo, and copyright law would already prohibit an "intentional and exact clone". A patent differs in that it counts as infringement even if you can prove you came up with it totally independently, having never seen Apple's particular glass cube.

With the large caveat that I'm not an expert on IP law, I do feel like a lot of allowed patents have a net negative value to society.

> needs to be done

No it doesn't.

The glass cube that was in Steve Job's mind must be protected!

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