Is This Patent Madness?

According to The Inquirer, a small Web design company in California called Balthaser Online says it has obtained a patent for rich-media Internet applications. If Balthaser's contention is accurate, this could mean anyone who wants to use Flash, Flex, Java, Ajax and XAML may have to pay a licensing fee to Balthaser. This either looks like another U.S. Patent & Trade Office fiasco and/or a company setting itself up to be acquired and put out of its misery. In any event, it – and the patent battle between NTP and RIM – illustrates the USPTO should undergo an extensive review to assess whether the granting of patents is being done in a way that protects the rights of investors while still leaving enough flexibility to encourage innovation.
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