The interwebs have been buzzing lately about this patent filed by Microsoft.  It’s entitled, “Metered Pay-As-You-Go Computing Experience.”

Claim 1 reads:  ”A method of operating a computer with scalable performance comprising:  presenting a catalog of options related to scalable performance of the pay-per-use computer;  presenting a price associated with each of the options;  receiving a selection of an option from the catalog of options;  calculating a total price of operation of the computer corresponding to the selection of the option;  configuring the computer to operate in accordance with the selection of the option; andaccumulating charges for operation of the computer according to the total price.” 

Observations:

• This is a business method patent (as far as I can tell) and could be precluded by Bilski
• Isn’t this somewhat obvious?  I admit to being surprised but the things that survive a non-obvious inquiry, but metering a standard way of doing business seems obvious even from a forward-looking perspective.
• I continue to have serious hang-ups regarding the US intellectual property system.  It seems to me that inventors rarely trade information worthy of receiving a limited monopoly anymore.  

But hey, I’m just a law student (who is still waiting on his grade from patents).

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1. United States v. Microsoft, A Decade Later
2. IBM Seeks Patent on “Autoblogging” Remote Control for Your TV
3. Thoughts About Copyright Litigation v. Patent Litigation