About the US patent system
I have done several patent myself and I know that getting a patent is not as simple as described here. Most time the examiner are critizing every piece of it.
On the other hand, after reviewing the patent I saw it claims to be "based on a paper filed on Jan 1998 which was presented on a conference." I think, if a conference can accept a paper, it is probably not that obvious. Think about the famous one-click patent. Worthy of mention is that in the US it is based on "first invent time" not "first file time" -- different from the world.
Think about IP industry vs music indurstry, why we think we should pay fee to a mp3 instead of software? The patent system is to protect and encourage industry instead of discourage it.
Whenever the system exists, we should respect it -- if you are in the US.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
