Google’s popular homepage doodles got patent protection

It all started 1998 when Sergey Brin and Larry Page tweaked the Google homepage logo to indicate their attendance at the Burning Man festival. Google (GOOG) co-founder Brin filed the patent application on April 30, 2001.

Google's patent application reads: "a system provides a periodically changing story line and/or a special event company logo to entice users to access a web page. For the story line, the system may receive objects that tell a story according to the story line and successively provide the objects on the web page for predetermined or random amounts of time. For the special event company logo, the system may modify a standard company logo for a special event to create a special event logo, associate one or more search terms with the special event logo, and upload the special event logo to the web page. The system may then receive a user selection of the special event logo and provide search results relating to the special event."

The granted patent (Patent 7,912,915) is for "systems and methods for enticing users to access a Web site." But not everyone is pleased.

Business Insider's Matt Rosoff commented that this patent is an abomination of the patent system. He argued that: "The patent system was originally created to foster innovation by protecting small inventors from having their ideas ripped off by big companies. But increasingly, big companies are using patents for exactly the opposite reason--to stop competitors from innovating."

TechDirt's Mike Masnick uses it to show how mad the system has gotten. He hopes that “Google plans to use this patent as an example of...just how ridiculous the patent system is becoming".

In the mean time, just enjoy the doodles...

Jou ma se … advocate tells judge in South African Court

Advocate Nehemiah Ballem swore "Jou ma se p**s, man, f**k you!" at Judge Lee Bozalek and then stormed out of the Western Cape High Court in South Africa. The incident happened during the case of the State versus Godfrey Manxilane. It looks like Ballem was a public defender in this case and had a better paying case at the same time....

The Cape Bar Council has requested that Ballem refrain from practising law pending the outcome of an investigation into the incident.

Folowing is the transcript, translated from Afrikaans, of the proceedings.

Judge: “Now first of all, Mr Ballem, where were you this morning?”

Ballem: “My lord, I just want to know if my clerk gave you a message?”

Judge: “Yes, we got a confused message … (about) car problems you had.”

Ballem: “Exactly. Now do you want to hear it again?”

Judge: “Excuse me?”

Ballem: “Do you want to hear the excuse again?”

Judge: “Yes.”

Ballem: “My car broke down.”

Judge: “Now why did you realise that around 10am when court proceedings were about to begin?”

Ballem: “We had to wait for the AA.”

Judge: “Yes?”

Ballem: “To tow the car away.”

Judge: “But you, no doubt, had a cellphone?”

Ballem: “I didn’t know about the case. I didn’t have my diary (sakboek) with me.”

Judge: “Your bag (sakkie) wasn’t with you?”

Ballem: “My diary wasn’t with me.”

Judge: “Yes. Could you not have phoned the High Court half an hour, an hour, before the time?”

Ballem: “Judge, how long must we hassle with this?”

Judge: “Excuse me?”

Ballem: “How long must we hassle with this? I’ve now gone to some trouble to be here.”

Judge: “Mr Ballem, perhaps you don’t realise, your first duty, if you have to appear in the High Court, is to be here, and you are not doing us a favour by being here, despite your problems. Why are you turning your face away from me while I’m speaking?”

Ballem: “Well, I asked my secretary to pass on a message and I assume she must have done so.”

Judge: “Yes, but then we got …” (interrupted)

Ballem: “Now do you want the message from me again?”

Judge: “Then we got another strange message: Could the case be postponed until Monday, a telephonic request for a postponement?”

Ballem: “Exactly. Then I got the message that you were prepared to wait for me, and now I am here.”

Judge: “You were not involved in another case this morning, were you?”

Ballem: “I was not involved, Judge. I am here now.” (He slams his hand on the desk.)

Judge: “Sir (meneer), your attitude, you must...” (interrupted)

Ballem: “But then you must not also come ...” (interrupted)

Judge: “You must be careful about your attitude, Mr Ballem, in front of the court.”

Ballem: “But then you must also not come with an attitude.”

Judge: “Excuse me?”

Ballem: “I said then you must not come with an attitude, because we are both adults, I am not your child.”

Judge: “Mr Ballem, I must tell you ...” (interrupted)

Ballem: “I said I am not your child.”

Judge: “I must warn you …” (interrupted)

Ballem: “You do exactly what you want. Do what you want.”

Judge: “You are sailing very close to the wind.”

Ballem: “Jou ma se p**s, man! F**k you!” (Ballem leaves the courtroom).

Judge: “Ms van Rooyen?”

Van Rooyen: “I don’t know what to say, my lord, except to suggest we remove the matter from the roll for today, and there we can ...” (interrupted)

Judge: “I think the matter should rather be postponed sine die (adjourned indefinitely).”

Van Rooyen: “I agree … We’ll get other legal representation and then ...” (interrupted)

Judge: “How will that be arranged?”

Van Rooyen: “My lord, I will take the case back to advocate Van der Merwe. He will arrange that someone else takes over the case … the documents are ready in any case.”

Judge: “I think it should remain with this court and I think the most appropriate order is that it be postponed indefinitely … Right, this case is postponed sine die, and Snellers (Legal Transcriptions) are requested to type all the proceedings that took place.”

(Image courtesy of Leon Muller)