In one of my more expensive posts yet, a Russian guy this week has patented the wink emoticon. You know the one:

;- )

I guess I just infringed on this patent right there.

In most cases the use of a patented trademark is not cost prohibited. When asked about this he mentioned that “it won’t cost that much – tens of thousands of dollars.” Though he’s aware of how difficult it’s going to be to receive payments. “You’re not likely to find any retards in Russia who’ll pay … for the use of emoticons.”

If you’re thinking to escape it by not putting the nose, he’s way ahead of you. He has already claimed ownership to alternate emoticons such as :- ) or ; ) or : ) since they are similar.

I don’t even know where to start with this lunacy. Clearly this guy is not an entrepreneur at all but is doing this as a cheap stunt to gain publicity for his business. He should be labeled for what is truly is, a fraud. The patent office too has a huge part to blame for this. Besides the fact that patents are over abused and entirely too generic these days, the fact that the emoticon has made it into the public lexicon since the dawn of the computer age should instantly invalidate the patent application.

This post will cost me “tens of thousands of dollars” times five. Any emoticons used in comments to this post will be separately billed to their author : p (that one is still free of charge aparently)