I agree it probably isn't patentable. It's an analogy that a lot of software tech companies these days can make a good business by putting some frameworks together with a database and solve real problems that used to be solved by other tools, and make good money and valuable products in the process. But depending on your opinion of battery powered coffee grinders, it's not necessarily new technology.
I'd love to see a patent as you describe that has not been found invalid in a PTAB or Art. III court proceeding
Re:IBM sues Airbnb for patent royalties
by Morpholemew on Thursday March 12, 2020 @06:28PM
(#22562602)
"Battery powered coffee grinder" but worse: "battery powered drill, but with Li instead of NiMH" Milwaukee Tool v. Snap On (lots of commentary, here's one example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9CLvU5-FRo )
On the software side, AFAIK the infamous "One Click" patent was never held up in court, but companies had to spend significant money defending against lawsuits based on it (and therefore the only possible victory was pyrrhic).
When did I say I'm describing a patent? In fact I specifically said that category of new product is usually not patentable. I'm responding to the below claim:
> most new technology is just software
Assuming that patents were actually useful as method of sharing useful designs with the world wouldn't you want to know how to overcome the engineering challenges?