Digenis.org

According to the US Patent and Trademark Office website, Microsoft is attempting to patent the selection and conjugation of verbs by a computer program. Other sources reporting this news weren’t sure what Microsoft had up their sleeve, but I dug around the patent filing, pulled some URLS out of the xeroxed diagrams, and figured out that it’s just a feature they’re trying out on their Encarta Encyclopedia Homework Help site.

It’s nothing impressive really… In fact, it’s quite ridiculous; just think of it as a HTML version of 501 Spanish Verbs. Would textbook verb conjugation tables count as prior art? And what about similar online programs like verbix.com?

Hopefully Microsoft’s patent application will be denied. It kind of reminds me of the old Onion article where Microsoft tries to patent ones and zeroes.