Burton Group TIps Off IBM Scientist About Microsoft AD Patent Violation

I was taken back by an article I read today about a former IBM scientist, William Reid, who claims that he created the "technology" behind Active Directory, and that he owns the patent behind it.

OK...so what's the next logical step for Mr. Reid?!

Of course...sue Haliburton! And not for the obvious reasons Haliburton should be sued...but because their Identity Management system is based on it. Pretty interesting logic there, Bill! Using that logic, you could sue almost every company out there...go sue GM and Charles Schwab while you're at it. Too late...he already did.

The most bizarre aspect of the story, is that he got the 'tip' from Catalyst!

In an interview, Reid, who says he worked on artificial intelligence for IBM from 2000 to 2002, says he determined that GM, Schwab, and Halliburton were violating his patent after visiting a trade show. Reid says he watched presentations by IT officials from the companies while attending the Burton Group's Catalyst conference.

There's nothing quite like a disgruntled, clueless IBM scientist. (No offense to the happy IBM scientsts out there.)