Parody: Hitler Receives a Threat from a Patent Troll

Subtitle parodies of the pivotal ‘breakdown’ scene from Oliver Hirschbiegel’s 2004 film Der Untergang (‘Downfall’) are so 2008!

Even so, when I found out this week that there is a web site which makes it easy for anyone to create their own Downfall parody video, I just had to give it a go.

If you have somehow managed to miss out on the Downfall parody phenomenon over the past few years, you can easily catch up at the Know Your Meme website.  Know Your Meme documents how these parodies have been met with approval by Hirschbiegel.  The production company Constantin Films was initially somewhat less impressed with what it saw as an infringement of its copyright in the film, but eventually bowed to the inevitable.

I am conscious that not everyone will consider Hitler to be an appropriate source of comedy.  The events of World War II, and the atrocities committed in the name of the Third Reich, can, for some people, never be the subject of humour.  If this is you, then please do not play the video.  It is certainly not my intention to cause offence.

If you have not seen the (undoctored) film Downfall, then I would encourage you to do so.  It is a powerful piece of cinema, and (as is apparent even from the parodies) the portrayal of Adolf Hitler by actor Bruno Ganz is both mesmerising and chilling.  The enduring influence of the film, which has doubtless been seen by millions of people born decades after the end of WWII, helps to ensure that we will never forget what happened.  And as philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist George Santayana famously wrote in vol. 1 of The Life of Reason: ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’

So, without further ado…

Hitler Receives a Threat from a Patent Troll

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Before You Go…

Thank you for reading this article to the end – I hope you enjoyed it, and found it useful.  Almost every article I post here takes a few hours of my time to research and write, and I have never felt the need to ask for anything in return.

But now – for the first, and perhaps only, time – I am asking for a favour.  If you are a patent attorney, examiner, or other professional who is experienced in reading and interpreting patent claims, I could really use your help with my PhD research.  My project involves applying artificial intelligence to analyse patent claim scope systematically, with the goal of better understanding how different legal and regulatory choices influence the boundaries of patent protection.  But I need data to train my models, and that is where you can potentially assist me.  If every qualified person who reads this request could spare just a couple of hours over the next few weeks, I could gather all the data I need.

The task itself is straightforward and web-based – I am asking participants to compare pairs of patent claims and evaluate their relative scope, using an online application that I have designed and implemented over the past few months.  No special knowledge is required beyond the ability to read and understand patent claims in technical fields with which you are familiar.  You might even find it to be fun!

There is more information on the project website, at claimscopeproject.net.  In particular, you can read:

1. a detailed description of the study, its goals and benefits; and
2. instructions for the use of the online claim comparison application.

Thank you for considering this request!

Mark Summerfield

Tags: History, Humour, Trolls