By: H.W. Pfabe | August 01, 2017

via www.Forbes.com

 

Sometimes, you Patent something because your goals are to do or make exactly what is in that Patent. Other times, however, you Patent something that you DON’T want to do.

 

A recent Patent awarded to Amazon is a perfect example of this.

 

 

THE PATENT

 

On May 30, 2017, Amazon was awarded U.S. Patent #9,665881, titled “Physical Store Online Shopping Control.” The claims at the end of the Patent, which tell you what the Patent actually protects, describe a method of intercepting a customer when that customer is in a brick-and-mortar store and decides to go online to shop for a better deal.

 

Checking out products in stores while comparing prices online is a common practice. It has its own name: “Showrooming.” ...