IBM is trying to patent the practice of giving customers free stuff while they wait:
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/240588926/article.pl

Something has to be done about the sorry state of the US patent system. Just about anything can be patented, opening the doors for patent trolls to sit back and wait for someone to become successful, then sue for patent infringement.

The patent system used to be about protecting inventors from being robbed by big business. It has been perverted into a system that allows lawyers to rob inventors with the help of the almighty corporation.