Microsoft checks off patent win

Microsoft has successfully patented the "to-do list". This patent comes quickly after last weeks patent given to Microsoft for double clicks in handhelds. One has to wonder what plans Microsoft has for these new patents and what possible patents Microsoft will be granted.

Better not get too fancy with your grocery list, now that Microsoft has patented a glorified form of the to-do list.

U.S. Patent No. 6,748,582, granted and assigned Tuesday to Microsoft, covers use of a "task list" in a software development environment. The patented technology essentially integrates certain comments left in the source code of an application under development with an accompanying checklist. Leave a "TODO" comment in the source code, and an authoring application automatically creates an item in the task list. Check an item off on the task list, and the corresponding source code comment is changed. A Microsoft representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment. While the new patent is specific enough to software development that vacationers penning "what to pack" lists don't have to worry, it fits with Microsoft's ongoing efforts to enlarge its patent portfolio.

View: U.S. Patent No. 6,748,582