Lots of patents are so absurd they would be funny, if they weren't so dangerous. Being sued for patent infringement isn't funny. If you think there may be a problem with the system of software patents, I hope you will read the League for Programming Freedom position papers. You can find them on ftp.uu.net in /doc/lpf. The principal position papers are look-and-feel.text and patents.text. If you decide you agree with the LPF position, please join. Joining is easy and doesn't take much of your time. You can find a membership form in the file lpf.join.