Ok ...so...hmmm



Ok, so put your own logo in the white background, call it yours.

Problem solved?

They can't claim the color white, that's racist
 
What a load of bat shit! How could you patent that technique?!! This would essentially allow them to sue the fuck out of anyone making money off of it.

Ugh, It's going to look trashy to have a logo on every fucking catalog shot.

How many product shots are done in a lightbox? Probably 90% of them! They are probably developing image searching engines to scout out possible violations.
 
Amazon is a good guy though. They never really sue anyone and everything about them is usually positive. Jeff Bezos is a libertarian.
 
Stupid patent that should have never been granted and wouldn't hold up under scrutiny. Ignore it and carry on.

It's like companies like lastminute.com and T-mobile claiming the color magenta as a trademark. They can seriously go fuck themselves.
 
I know people like to go on and on about patents without knowing diddly squat about them. The Quartz article is no different.

Claim 1 of US 8,676,045 (the patent in question) reads:

1. A studio arrangement, comprising: a background comprising a white cyclorama; a front light source positioned in a longitudinal axis intersecting the background, the longitudinal axis further being substantially perpendicular to a surface of the white cyclorama; an image capture position located between the background and the front light source in the longitudinal axis, the image capture position comprising at least one image capture device equipped with an eighty-five millimeter lens, the at least one image capture device further configured with an ISO setting of about three hundred twenty and an f-stop value of about 5.6; an elevated platform positioned between the image capture position and the background in the longitudinal axis, the front light source being directed toward a subject on the elevated platform; a first rear light source aimed at the background and positioned between the elevated platform and the background in the longitudinal axis, the first rear light source positioned below a top surface of the elevated platform and oriented at an upward angle relative to a floor level; a second rear light source aimed at the background and positioned between the elevated platform and the background in the longitudinal axis, the second rear light source positioned above the top surface of the elevated platform and oriented at a downward angle relative to the floor level; a third rear light source aimed at the background and positioned in a lateral axis intersecting the elevated platform and being substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the third rear light source further positioned adjacent to a side of the elevated platform; and a fourth rear light source aimed at the background and positioned in the lateral axis adjacent to an opposing side of the elevated platform relative to the third rear light source; wherein a top surface of the elevated platform reflects light emanating from the background such that the elevated platform appears white and a rear edge of the elevated platform is substantially imperceptible to the image capture device; and the first rear light source, the second rear light source, the third rear light source, and the fourth rear light source comprise a combined intensity greater than the front light source according to about a 10:3 ratio.

The claimed invention recites a highly specific arrangement of lights, camera, background, lighting, and lighting angles. As such, the claim is INCREDIBLY INCREDIBLY narrow.

During prosecution of the patent application in question, the examiner's search identified a very small number of potentially relevant documents, which further supports the patentability of the claimed invention. In fact, their broadest claim was allowed in the first office action, which doesn't happen very often.

No, the patent will not stop people from taking a picture in front of a white background, as the Quartz article suggests. Quartz's provocative title was chosen specifically to increase readership (yay internet marketing) and misses the point of the invention by a million miles.
 
Sorry, but that patent still should not be granted...

Let's translate this:

* A white background.
* A subject
* The subject sits on an elevated platform
* One light source pointing right at the background (perpendicular angle, longitudinal positioning) and also horizontal at a right angle
* One camera ("imaging device" - so this could also be an iPad camera, phone cam, video cam, whateverhaveya)
* That camera is between Light One and the background
* The camera is pointed at the subject
* That camera has an ISO of "around 300" and f-stop of "around 5.6"
* 4 rear lights pointing at - the subject from behind, at the background from behind the subject, at the floor of the background from one side, and at the floor of the background from the other side

Now, this MIGHT seem very specific, but it is basically describing a variation of a very basic key and filler lights setup used for example in portrait photography

Amherst_The_Best_of_Photographic_Lighting_loop_image02.jpg


Looks quite close to the patent image:
amazon-seamless-white-670x434.jpg


Now if that portrait lighting setup is not CLOSE ENOUGH, feast your eyes on a typical product lighting setup:
lighting-setup-for-product-photography-lamp.gif


Bottom line:
* Very easy to "violate" that patent when doing product shots (100s of shots are already doing so)
* That patent is absurd

::emp::
 
handy instructions though if you want to take perfect product shots, thanks amazon
 
I see Jeff Bezos from time to time.

If I ever get a chance to make small talk, I'll subtly bring this up.

"Yeah, I'm doing well. Thanks for asking, Mr. Bezos. In fact, I'm filming my first YouTube commercial a week from now. It's a typical product demonstration in front of a white backdrop. i think it'll work, but my colleagues say it's a liability. Fuck them. May I caress your shiny, bald forehead? I Promise I'll be gentle."
 
Those settings are the optimal settings for many headshot photographers, and product photographers. The technique has been used millions of times, and wont hold up under prior work. Much like the guy who patented "podcast" and tried to claim all prior podcast where violating his patent
 
GerardWon said:
All my backgrounds are "ivory" anyway. So fuck them bitches.

Shades of white - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Click to expand...

^exactly.

Here is the issue with THAT patent (amongst the bazzillion issues there are with THAT patent)

First off.

Amazon are a multi-multi-multi Billion dollar business, I don't subjectively believe they would patent something they couldn't actually enforce...their legal team are not fucking retards come on.

That being said, to enforce that patent, I also believe they would have to hold a patent to every single shade of white there is.

Who is calling white - white?

What the fuck is white?..

What shade of white have they patented?..is it the Amazon shade of white they use..because that patent doesn't mention that it just says white.
 
The retards here are not the guys on Amazon's legal team, but the braindead at the patent office.

That thing will get scrapped the first ever court case it comes up in.

::emp::
 
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