A day after we had mentioned some possible patent reforms, the following nugget of information showed up in Slashdot:

USPTO Examiner Rejected 1-Click Claims As 'Obvious'

Faced with a duly unimpressed USPTO examiner who rejected its new 1-Click patent claims as 'obvious' and 'old and well known,' Amazon has taken the unusual step of requesting an Oral Appeal to plead its case...

With patents being invalidated, it is becoming increasingly clear why Microsoft refuses to be specific about patents, which it only lists in terms of aggregated numbers.

The fact of the matter is, no matter how serious these patent violations are, any patent clearly-worded and not vague in purpose is addressable. It may take some time, effort, and tons of money to make it work; but chances are, it’s doable. So long as Microsoft hasn’t patented the right-mouse context menus, the concept of a desktop, or the word “Office,” the open source can - if the need arises - clear all these issues up and move on ahead.