Microsoft Patents Mouse Double-Click, Viruses

Microsoft was granted a patent on the double-click by the US Patents and Trademark Office on April 27. The patent was granted for launching a function by pressing the "application button multiple times within a short period of time, e.g., double click." Microsoft has said that it will be "seeking to improve earnings from technology" it claims to have invented and will be filing for more patents on that technology.

The double-click patent is the first in a series of "controversial and somewhat frivolous" Microsoft patent applications, according to industry analyst Richard O'Brian. "Microsoft is seeking to patent just about everything they can lay their hands on." Next up for the company, he said, is a patent on "unnecessary software updates." "Microsoft wishes to profit from something they can undeniably be shown to have invented: the unneeded Windows update," said O'Brian, referring to data showing that the average Windows user must update the Windows system "about three to four times per second, sometimes more." Following that, Microsoft intends to file a patent on "computer viruses that cause fatal errors multiple times within a short period of time."