Z:gnu-www-ja-software-patents--985aba-The patent office does things/en

The patent office does things that are so obviously foolish, you wouldn't even have to know the state of the art to see they are foolish. This is not limited to software. I once saw the famous Harvard mouse patent which was obtained after Harvard genetically engineered a strain of mouse with a cancer causing gene. The cancer causing gene was already known and was inserted using known techniques into an already existing strain of mouse. The patent they got covered inserting any cancer causing gene into any kind of mammal using any method whatsoever. You don't have to know anything about genetic engineering to realize that is ridiculous.