[Air-L] Microsoft Social Networking Patent Application

[Ulf-Dietrich Reips]

lol

At 12:52 Uhr -0700 28.4.2008, info at peertopatent.org wrote:
>Dear Friends,
>
>Microsoft has a patent application posted on the Peer-to-Patent site
>(http://www.peertopatent.org) for Recommending contacts in a social
>network.
>It is posted here
>http://www.peertopatent.org/patent/20080059576/activity.
>
>We are soliciting your help and that of the communities you know in
>finding prior art that will help the Patent Office to examine this
>application and determine if it deserves a twenty-year grant of rights
>to prevent all others from making, using, or selling this invention
>(this includes any research and R&D that would touch upon the claims of
>the invention, if patented).  Can you let people know about this
>opportunity?  We invite them to submit: 1) prior art, 2) to annotate the
>prior art submitted by others, 3) to vote on the relevance of the public
>submissions, and 3) to suggest fruitful avenues for research for the
>USPTO when examining this application.
>
>Peer-to-Patent is not just another blog, wiki or website.  It is an
>"extension" of the government institution!   Posted information will be
>forwarded directly to the United States Patent and Trademark Office and
>be used in the examination process. 
>
>Here's a bit more detail about the application and about Peer-to-Patent:
>
>Recommending contacts in a social network
>A method and system for recommending potential contacts to a target user
>is provided. A recommendation system identifies users who are related to
>the target user through no more than a maximum degree of separation. The
>recommendation system identifies the users by starting with the contacts
>of the target user and identifying users who are contacts of the target
>user's contacts, contacts of those contacts, and so on. The
>recommendation system then ranks the identified users, who are potential
>contacts for the target user, based on a likelihood that the target user
>will want to have a direct relationship with the identified users. The
>recommendation system then presents to the target user a ranking of the
>users who have not been filtered out.
>
>Peer-to-Patent is an initiative of New York Law School's Institute for
>Information Law and Policy in cooperation with the United States Patent
>and Trademark Office (USPTO).  The pilot program allows for public
>participation in the patent examination process by inviting the public
>to submit annotated prior art relevant to examining computer and
>software-related patent applications.
>   
>The Peer-to-Patent Web site enables those who sign up to:
>
>--review and discuss posted patent applications
>
>--share research to locate references to relevant earlier publications
>
>--submit these prior art references with an explanation of relevance
>
>--annotate and evaluate submitted prior art
>
>--winnow the top ten prior art references, which, together with
>commentary, will be forwarded directly to the USPTO
>   
>Reviewing patent applications is free and open to all via the
>Peer-to-Patent Web site at www.peertopatent.org.  Bloggers are invited
>and encouraged to host their own conversations about pending patent
>applications and then submit prior art via the Peer-to-Patent website.
>Any assistance y ou can provide by encouraging participation in the
>Peer-to-Patent review process will be helpful.
>
>
>Regards,
>
>
>The Peer-to-Patent Team
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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