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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Wed Jul 05, 2017 10:34 am

Heiwashin wrote:
Well the thing that keeps coming to my mind is, can you really patent the shape of a building.

Probably not on its own. Architectural designs are protected by copyright, not patent law.

You can probably patent the concept of using a building of a particular shape as a drone depot though.
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Heiwashin
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Wed Jul 05, 2017 10:39 am

That is silly
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Wed Jul 05, 2017 11:00 am

Heiwashin wrote:
Well the thing that keeps coming to my mind is, can you really patent the shape of a building.


Yes. It's called a Design Patent, which is a little different than what people generally conceive of when they think of patents generically.

What's even crazier is that you could probably get a Utility Patent for a design if you made a credible contention that the shape has features that are conducive to either the operations of that building (such as power/heating/cooling savings) or towards the purpose of that building (it's more efficient when it comes to hosting the production line for making widgets).

Since Utility Patent matches pretty well with the common understanding of the generic word "Patent", yeah. You can.

Plus copyright doesn't just apply to architectural plans either, but the actual buildings themselves too.

:wink:

EDIT: Ack! missed the page break and JBI's post!
 
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Thu Jul 06, 2017 9:22 am

No, but you can patent a 'system' that includes a goofy-shaped building with drones spewing out of it.
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Thu Jul 06, 2017 9:26 am

Heiwashin wrote:
That is silly

No argument there. I'm even listed as co-inventor on two patents, and *I* think much of current patent law (or at least the prevailing interpretation thereof) is silly.

The current patent system mainly benefits the patent attorneys. I bet *they* don't think it is silly.

Edit: And as far as potential "prior art" on the design of the building itself goes: https://www.google.com/search?q=chicago ... 96&bih=787

:lol:

(They were built in the 1960s. Pretty big deal when I was a kid.)

Edit 2: And no, cars generally don't work well as airborne drones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VtZ5e0 ... tu.be&t=85
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:35 am

Glorious wrote:
Plus copyright doesn't just apply to architectural plans either, but the actual buildings themselves too.

Uhm, but I've heard it from a practicing IP lawyer that a building is normally regarded as a useful article and cannot be copyrighted in its utilitarian aspects.
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Fri Jul 07, 2017 7:22 am

ludi wrote:
Uhm, but I've heard it from a practicing IP lawyer that a building is normally regarded as a useful article and cannot be copyrighted in its utilitarian aspects.


I AM DEFINITELY NOT A LAWYER...

...But that's a general principle of copyright, it's even explicitly expressed right after part that says you *can* copyright a building:
17 U.S.C § 102(a)(8)

17 U.S.C § 102(b) wrote:
In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work.


So, no, you cannot "copyright" the utilitarian aspect, that is, the purpose of the building, but you can copyright the appearance of the building. In other words, if you make an a visually iconic design for a building other architects can't just mimic it without violating your copyright.

This copyright is distinct from the actual technical design documents themselves, which fall under a different category.

Here is a circular from the Copyright Office that goes over it: https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ41.pdf
 
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Wed Aug 09, 2017 4:09 pm

Today's locker screwiness...

Order has been showing as delivered for most of the day, but I never received the pickup code. Checked the spam folder too, and it's not there.

Called Customer Service, waited on hold, got transferred to the Locker department, waited on hold again, and was given a code over the phone. I'll know in a few minutes whether the code works or not.
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Wed Aug 09, 2017 5:04 pm

So the code I got over the phone worked. A couple of amusing side notes:

- The Customer Service rep indicated that she would send an e-mail documenting our interaction, but that the e-mail would NOT contain the code she had read to me, "for security reasons". The e-mail from Customer Service had the code in it.

- The e-mail also contained the "helpful" reminder that I could view the code by pulling up the order details in my Amazon account. No, I can't. That was the first thing I checked when I hadn't received the normal locker pickup e-mail, and I called Customer Service because it wasn't there. :roll:
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Wed Aug 09, 2017 6:18 pm

I've been keeping an eye on this thread since it started, thanks for keeping it updated JBI!

I'd never heard of it till I saw this thread. Unfortunately the closest locker is about 3 hours away, though I'd probably only ever use it if I was headed out of town for a long time.

Kinda crazy they haven't sorted out the issues when there's some expensive merchandise sitting around.
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Wed Aug 09, 2017 6:56 pm

Well, the only time it resulted in a "loss" of merchandise was when I received someone else's package in my locker by mistake (they presumably received mine). In that case, Amazon promptly refunded the purchase price.

If it shows as delivered in their system and doesn't get picked up from the locker within 3 business days, the default action is in fact a return for refund. That probably covers most of the rest of the potential f*ckups, including on the customer's end. (Aside from the time I had an order that got stuck in the "Out for delivery" state for several days; not sure why their system didn't flag that.)
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Tue Aug 29, 2017 1:51 pm

Latest Amazon Locker glitch: A music CD I ordered was "returned as undeliverable". Order status was showing as "in transit" as of this morning. Huh? :roll:

And now it shows as out of stock. Looks like there are some 3rd party and/or used copies that end up being cheaper even after shipping though, so maybe I'll just order one of those instead.

Or I could be a dick and keep the Amazon AutoRip MP3 download without re-ordering the physical CD (I'd rather have the lossless physical copy though, and would also like to support the artist).
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Sat Sep 23, 2017 10:33 am

Ordered some USB extension cables, which were sent as two separate shipments. Received a pickup code for only one of them (the other one transitioned to "delivered" status with no code received). In this case the glitch was harmless, since if you have multiple shipments waiting it will ask you whether you want to also open the other lockers associated with your account,
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Wed Sep 27, 2017 11:17 am

I just got a notice about Amazon treasure truck. They have this circus looking truck full of popular goods and then you can go pick it up "same day". Is this April fool's. I actually checked the date because of this.

The reason Amazon same day or even factory pickup is nice is because Amazon tends to have the hard to find high end quality gear that I like which can't be found at Walmart. But this truck thing.... Weird.
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Wed Sep 27, 2017 11:21 am

It's Amazon's take on the ice cream man. I hope it plays that stupid jingle as it drives around the neighborhood.
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Thu Dec 28, 2017 12:41 pm

The latest foul-up is all on me. I ordered something for pickup at the locker by the office before deciding I was going to work from home today, and take Friday off to make it a 4 day weekend. Now I won't be anywhere near the locker within the 3-day pickup window for my package. D'oh! :roll:

Customer service said they can't extend the window right now, but they will try again on Saturday (presumably once they see how many other packages get picked up and ordered through those lockers) and e-mail me to let me know. That seems reasonable, as I'm now occupying a locker they may need for someone else's order.

If the window can't be extended, the item automatically gets returned for refund and I can re-order it. So the only consequence is that I have to wait a few more days...
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Tue Jan 02, 2018 10:36 am

So they wouldn't extend the pickup window, but indicated that it would remain available until the next time they delivered new packages to the lockers. Stopped by the lockers early this AM, and was able to get the package.
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Thu May 24, 2018 10:05 am

They seem to have switched to numerical-only locker codes for some reason (was previously a mix of numbers and letters). I wonder why they did that; it drastically reduces the number of possible combinations (1 million possible combinations now vs. ~2 billion before, as it's a 6-character code). While that may not seem like too much of a risk, some of the locations have a LOT of lockers; with a million possible combinations, there's a non-trivial chance someone could open a random locker just by punching in a bunch of codes at random.
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Thu May 24, 2018 2:26 pm

just brew it! wrote:
They seem to have switched to numerical-only locker codes for some reason (was previously a mix of numbers and letters). I wonder why they did that; it drastically reduces the number of possible combinations (1 million possible combinations now vs. ~2 billion before, as it's a 6-character code). While that may not seem like too much of a risk, some of the locations have a LOT of lockers; with a million possible combinations, there's a non-trivial chance someone could open a random locker just by punching in a bunch of codes at random.


Where they lower and upper case letters before?
 
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Thu May 24, 2018 2:28 pm

Heiwashin wrote:
Well the thing that keeps coming to my mind is, can you really patent the shape of a building.

You can, sort of, if it has a unique function that you describe very specifically. I skimmed the application, it has three independent claims (i.e. three basic statements could be the foundation of a court challenge), and all of them are tied to the housing and maintenance of multiple UAVs. Amazon isn't claiming to have invented a melted pagoda, they're claiming to have invented a melted pagoda that organizes and supports a fleet of drones.
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Thu May 24, 2018 2:33 pm

layerup wrote:
Where they lower and upper case letters before?

No, just upper.
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Fri May 25, 2018 4:39 pm

...and today they shipped me an empty envelope. I've had them ship me someone else's order once before, but never just an empty package. :roll:
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Sat May 26, 2018 12:21 am

Maybe somebody ordered an envelope.
 
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Mon Jul 30, 2018 9:17 am

Yesterday morning I got a pickup notice for a package (with a locker code), followed 4 hours later by a notification that the package was delayed, and should arrive by Wednesday. This AM I decided to try the locker code anyway just to see what would happen, even though the order status was showing as delayed in transit. The locker opened, and the package was there.

Not sure if that was human error, a glitch in their system, or a combination of the two...
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Tue Jul 31, 2018 12:11 pm

just brew it! wrote:
Yesterday morning I got a pickup notice for a package (with a locker code), followed 4 hours later by a notification that the package was delayed, and should arrive by Wednesday. This AM I decided to try the locker code anyway just to see what would happen, even though the order status was showing as delayed in transit. The locker opened, and the package was there.

Not sure if that was human error, a glitch in their system, or a combination of the two...


Was... was the part you ordered for a time machine?

More likely, they just padded the delivery estimate...
 
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Tue Jul 31, 2018 12:45 pm

cphite wrote:
just brew it! wrote:
Yesterday morning I got a pickup notice for a package (with a locker code), followed 4 hours later by a notification that the package was delayed, and should arrive by Wednesday. This AM I decided to try the locker code anyway just to see what would happen, even though the order status was showing as delayed in transit. The locker opened, and the package was there.

Not sure if that was human error, a glitch in their system, or a combination of the two...

Was... was the part you ordered for a time machine?

More likely, they just padded the delivery estimate...

I received the delay notice several hours after the delivery notice. They're also pretty anal about making sure you pick up the order within 3 days of delivery (so as to not tie up the lockers needlessly). This isn't a matter of padding the delivery estimate; the original delivery estimate (when I placed the order) was accurate.
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Tue Jul 31, 2018 8:47 pm

cphite wrote:
Was... was the part you ordered for a time machine?

Well, when he ordered his phone was charging like this:

Image

(Damn I wish these were still available at ThinkGeek...)
 
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Tue Jul 31, 2018 10:22 pm

If you are still looking I know a couple of Libyans down by the twoone pine parking lot...
 
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Tue Jul 31, 2018 10:31 pm

I'll toss in the spare pinball machine parts.
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Re: Amazon Locker weirdness

Wed Aug 01, 2018 9:19 am

I'm wondering if you have a lazy locker-refiller.

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