a patent for the "idea" of ingesting data into hadoop (is it really "sponge worthy"?)
Ok... I'll say it... the technology patent process in the US must officially be broken -- if not simply ridiculous. Proof? Just check out US20130275363 which was awarded for the IDEA of a "meta-data driven data ingestion using mapreduce framework".
Seriously? Maybe I should file (and probably get awarded) a patent for the IDEA "get out of bed on workdays so you can go to your job" which is just about as obvious. Does the patent award recipient have a product that they have created to do just this? If so, is it a paid product or is it in spirit of where map-reduce belongs; an open-source project?
I suspect that the patent is simply a way (again, like is the case in so many technical corners) to claim an original idea (BTW, this is NOT an original idea -- it is AN EXTREMELY COMMON USE CASE in ALMOST EVERY Hadoop project). If I was to try to sell a framework that uses meta-data from a source system and leverages map-reduce to ingest the data in a technology like Hadoop do I somehow owe this patent owner a slice of the pie? If so, that's totally screwed up. What if I open-source such a framework? Am I somehow indemnified from this, or do I simply need to give the patent owner a slice of my proceeds? Don't worry even a big percentage of $0.00 is still ZERO. What if I made money consulting with my figurative open-source framework? Do I then owe someone else a share of my rate? What if a company builds their own meta-data driven ingestion framework -- are they on the hook to pay up?
Too many questions, but my hunch is I simply won't like the answers. It is not that I am against the process of awarding patents for ideas, but I am squarely against a system that grants patents for EXTREMELY COMMON-SENSE ideas; or more appropriately, declarations of problems to be solved. Especially if that system then penalizes others for true invention, innovation, and hard work.
Everyone knows I like to write. I also like to make money, so my next project is to file a patent application for "using a computing device as a way to create and store digital files in order to do something important". Yep, I think I can BS my way through that one and once I get it awarded... I'm coming after all of y'all to pay up!