Online dating firm patents cupid's arrow
Found on The Register on Saturday, 29 May 2004
The US patent office has outdone itself this week, awarding dating company eHarmony a patent covering online matchmaking.
In patentese, US patent no. 6,735,568 describes a computer implemented method for "identifying people who are likely to have a successful relationship".
Critics complain that reducing all of human relationships to an empirical test takes away the mystery. However, researchers at eHarmony maintain that a psychological profile is a good predictor of marital success. "Opposites might attract, but in our research they don't stay together," said Dr. Galen Buckwalter, vice president of research at eHarmony.
I wonder if the guys at the patent office read the requests or if they just write "approved" on them. It might be better not to make cynical jokes and suggestions about possible future patents, since they might become true.