If I didn't actually read the patent applications I would believe that this stuff is invented by opponents of the system. Techdirt has a posting describing the lastest invention: the phone that can play mp3s and access the internet. The patent is here. The lawsuit against every maker of smart phones was filed moments after the application was approved. This is not an invention: it is a cocktail party wishlist: wouldn't be great if...

Here are some other inventions that no doubt have been mentioned millions of times by thousands of people all of whom had the common decency not to write it down and try to get a patent on it. I invite our readers to submit more; who knows it may be prior art one day.

*Wouldn't it be great if I put a pillow on that chair, it would be so much more comfortable.

*Wouldn't it be great if you could shop online while you were flying on an airplane and have the stuff you ordered waiting for you at the gate when the flight arrived.

*Wouldn't it be great is spaceships had built-in music players.

*Wouldn't it be great if flashlights had disco strobes that could be used for dancing.

Wouldn't it be great if...add your own.

Let's make a contest: submit your ideas, we'll have a vote of the bloggers to pick the top 5 and post them. If we make a fortune patenting any of the ideas and suing everyone already making the product, we'll share our winnings.

Hi. Why don't you go, patent them, and then use the money for anti-monopoly campaigning? It would probably be the best use anybody ever put money from a patent.

Or just patent the idea of patenting things then refuse to license it.

Wouldn't it be great if there was a process for doing things on the internet?