Google’s Simple Home Page Now Patented

Home / News

Google’s Simple Home Page Now Patented

By CircleID Reporter
September 03, 2009, 5:37 pm PDT Views: 8,277 Comments: 1

Ryan Tate of Valleywag writes: “After a five-and-a-half-year fight, Google and its attorneys have managed to convince federal bureaucrats to bestow a patent on the company’s iconic home page. We always thought the page was brain-dead simple, but apparently it’s an innovative ‘graphical user interface. ...In other words, subject to how the patent is enforced, Google owns the idea of having a giant search box in the middle of the page, with two big buttons underneath and several small links nearby.”

By CircleID Reporter

CircleID’s internal staff reporting on news tips and developing stories. Do you have information the professional Internet community should be aware of? Contact us.

Visit Page

Filed Under

Comments

It's a design patent John Levine – Sep 5, 2009 5:55 AM

Not a utility patent. Design patents basically cover the aesthetics of a thing, not its function. The difference is important.

# 1 Reply | Link | Report Problems

The Weekly Wrap

More and more professionals are choosing to publish critical posts on CircleID from all corners of the Internet industry. If you find it hard to keep up daily, consider subscribing to our weekly digest. We will provide you a convenient summary report once a week sent directly to your inbox. It's a quick and easy read.

I make a point of reading CircleID. There is no getting around the utility of knowing what thoughtful people are thinking and saying about our industry.

VINTON CERF
Co-designer of the TCP/IP Protocols & the Architecture of the Internet