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back to article IBM drops attempt to patent outsourcing

IBM has abandoned a ludicrous attempt to patent outsourcing after an internet outcry. Big Blue submitted this highly original invention to the US Patent office in January 2006. Its principal claim was for "a method for identifying human-resource work content to outsource offshore of an organisation". The application was …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Please to be repeating?

    Um India is going to be non viable in 5 years, so who cares....

    China et all are still too communist, but are trying. The patrent should be how to reverse the 'Outsorcing' trend as it will eventually cost as much as US workers only with very obvious problems in the quality deprtment as these chained patenets make obvious.

    ie: IBM outsource and then dont have a clue what your saying, and it costs you just a bit less than people who understand you?

    Should there be a patenet to prevent 'Guilt through Patenet Association'

    Oh a knock on the door......

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  2. Jason Harvey

    Outsourcing

    yeah... prior art totally blows that away. Agriculture has been outsourced for centuries. Coffee... nuff said.

    and I like the new comment icons. though some more may be in order (like one with a measuring stick for the random vacuumed sheep speed measurements?)

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  3. cor
    Coat

    Coat

    What's next, Clarks are going to patent shoes? Oh, wait...

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  4. amanfromMars Silver badge

    And its other claims?

    "Its principal claim was for "a method for identifying human-resource work content to outsource offshore of an organisation".

    Sounds like Intellectual Property theft.

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh the irony

    The poster above who is sneering at Indian call centres may want to work on his own communication skills. Writing gibberish like the above is more of a hurdle than a slight Mumbai accent. Remedial English FTW.

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Who says Americans don't do irony?

    A semi-literate post from a (presumably outsourced) US worker claiming that outsourcing trends should be reversed because foreigners don't speak English as well as US workers. Sheer genius.

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  7. Steve Browne

    They just get ...

    ... sillier and sillier.

    Message to americans, do you realise quite how stupid you all look when things like this happen ? You can go on as much as you like about whichever business/law/whatever schools you have, but the end result is absolute stupidity.

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  8. amanfromMars Silver badge

    PerlyGatesPython Therapy ?

    Anonymous Vulture,

    Why so Pessimistic?

    Negative Waves, man? What's with the Negative Waves.

    Bipolar Progressive?

    Hi, I'm Multi-Dimensional HyperRadioProActive Normally. And Right Manic IT2 is. :-)

    "They just get ...

    By Steve Browne

    Posted Friday 5th October 2007 15:45 GMT

    ... sillier and sillier."

    Great Cover though, Steve. Giving IT the Full Monty.

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  9. Chris

    re: They just get

    <sarcasm>

    Sillier? Stupid?!? Why you pinko commie, you! We're not silly OR stupid! For god's sake, we gave you reality TV and American Idol!!

    </sarcasm>

    For the record, yes, those of us who are at least semi-intelligent do know how stupid we look. Unfortunately, that's because the majority of Americans ARE stupid. Personally, I would love for the blue states to cede from the union and form there own country. Imagine what the red states would do without our money to fund their idiocy and their wars.

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  10. Keith T
    Dead Vulture

    Too bad ... this was the one hope to save my job

    Oh well.

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  11. hans
    Gates Halo

    Irony

    I get it, you develop software to decode human voices, put them in text to remote workers who help you remoteley.

    Why dont we just have text recognition software and 'predictive answers' why waste money on people, on or off shore?

    A carbon form-less automated self helping help desk?

    Patent 2727262672

    And yes it a technical patent....

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  12. Alan Donaly
    IT Angle

    I don't think means anything

    The guy at the top is a troll and this story is about corporate almost stupidity what are you going to say when someone actually does something dumb.

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  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Outsourcing

    Just a thought ---

    Could not outsourcing be considered a form of colonization practiced by corporations rather than countries? In particular, the "captive" offshore development efforts remind me very much of a colony whose sole purpose is to return a low cost service to the parent that can then be effectively resold at a greater profit than would otherwise be the case. I should think that the UK and the US would be very familiar with this model. In my opinion, the real culprits behind this popular method of increasing profits are stockholders who think they are entitled to a 20% return on their investment every year.

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