The Washington Business Journal is reporting that the USPTO is outsourcing its classification for $138 million.

Reston-based SI will provide the patent office with patent classification services to support the office in examining, granting and disseminating patents and trademarks.

You may remember that the USPTO is also outsourcing the examination of international applications.  I wonder what will be next.

Business-Method patents strike again.  Fortune, via CNN Money, writes about the tax patent trend.

In recent years, the Patent Office has begun granting patents to people who claim to have invented novel ways of avoiding taxes. The trend is part of a larger explosion in the number of patents granted to financial firms for so-called "business method" innovations.  So far, 48 patents for tax reduction strategies have been granted and at least another 61 applications are pending.

Greg Aharonian, whose only credentials seems to be that he writes a newsletter criticizing the patent system, calls Wikipedia toilet paper.  From the Wall Street Journal Law Blog is this quote from Patents Commisioner John Doll:

“The problem with Wikipedia is that it’s constantly changing.” Doll says the agency used Wikipedia entries as background and not as the basis for deciding on an application. A PTO spokesperson attributed inquiries from Business Week for the shift in policy.

I thought chewing gum already helped freshen ones breath.  At least it worked for me.  Apparently, Wrigely thought the current gum lineup didn't go far enough in combating halitosis.  NutraIngredients.com has an article about the patent.

Wrigley, who own the brands Juicy Fruit, Extra and Doublemint, claim the gum is an improvement on existing brands as contains enough flavour to mask any unpalatable taste.

The patent, 7,087,255, entitled "Chewing gums that provide breath freshening characteristics" puts it this way in the abstract . . .

United States health officials, seeking to be an example for other countries and trying to grow flu research, have placed the genetic information of more than 650 flu viruses into a public database.  According to deseretnews.com in the article entitled "Poor countries may patent bird virus strains",

Poorer countries where bird flu is spreading may patent individual strains of the virus as a way to help them negotiate lower prices for vaccines and treatments.  The plan is being advanced by a new program, announced today, that urges participating countries to place genetic information about their individual bird flu strains into central databases in return for rights that will allow the countries to control who uses the data.