Interesting milestone this week. My very first patent granted.
- Filed: November, 2004
- Granted: February 10, 2009
Ironically, I wouldn’t have known about it except for a promotion catalog I got in the mail today with a list of plaques I could buy to commemorate this patent from some souvenir company in Florida. Yes, I know. Weird.
This was the first of several patent applications I submitted while at eBay. This particular application surrounded the logic and algorithm around assessing popularity for e-commerce listings based on “following” behavior, aka “Watch” in eBay terms.
Yes, this was the “Most Watched” patent, from the debut of eBay Pulse. (Sadly, it looks like the patent office has actually moved faster approving this patent than eBay has updating eBay Pulse since that 2004 launch.)
There is a lot I could comment on here about the USPTO, the dubious nature of software patents, the length of time, etc. Normally, I’d go on at length about some of these issues.
Instead, however, I’ll just note that it’s a somewhat sentimental moment for me, because I always remember hearing about how my late grandfather had filed an important patent on his path to business success.
Psychohistory 
Adam,
Pretty sweet news. Congratulations! And though I read it is bittersweet, surely your late grandfather would be extraordinarily proud of your accomplishments.
My stepfather, who taught me about electricity and computers and who helped me solder together my sinclair in the garage in the early 80’s, sadly also never lived to see me enter the world of ecommerce and make so much out of the grounding he gave me. So I understand the feelings, I think. You are not alone.
Anyway, congratulations again, you deserve it!