Patent litigation reform failed to pass Congress this year, but the issue of "patent trolls"—paper companies that do nothing but sue over patents—received unprecedented attention. Activist groups that have been long focused on the issue, like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, don't want the public pressure to let up.

Hence, EFF's newest patent campaign: the group will be announcing a "Stupid Patent of the Month." For August, the group has nominated US Patent No. 8,762,173, titled “Method and Apparatus for Indirect Medical Consultation.” The patent issued in June, and it dates back to an original filing in 2007.

A blog post by EFF lawyer Vera Ranieri, supplies a legalese-free description of just what the now-monopolized method is:

a. take a telephone call from patient

b. record patient info in a patient file

c. send patient information to a doctor, ask the doctor if she wants to talk to the patient

d. call the patient back and transfer the call to the doctor

e. record the call

f. add the recorded call to the patient file and send to doctor

g. do steps a–f with a computer

The original patent actually just had steps A-F, and it was appropriately rejected. Then, step G was added, and the rejection went away.

"This is a stupid patent," concludes Ranieri. "This is a patent on a doctor's computer-secretary... Somehow, something that wasn't patentable became patentable just by saying 'do it with a computer.'"

It would seem to be exactly the type of patent that the Alice v. CLS Bank decision was supposed to do away with. This patent issued on June 24, 2014—just one day before new draft guidelines (PDF) were circulated, notifying examiners of new criteria under Alice v. CLS.

Readers looking for a deeper understanding of how outrageous patents can slip through the examination process should be sure to take a look at a recent guest post on Ars by Public Knowledge attorney Charles Duan, investigating how Amazon got its patent for photography on a white background.

It was 10 years ago this month when EFF launched its "Patent Busting Project," meant to bust 10 truly egregious patents that were "wanted" for "crimes against the public domain." The campaign met with limited success. Even in cases where EFF was able to bust the patent, the patent troll or company behind the patent was often able to keep up its basic business using other patents.

Traditional court battles aside, truly outrageous patents still do have value to activists looking to bring change through the court of public opinion. Awarding a "Stupid Patent of the Month" is a way to get some PR value out of bad patents, without necessarily committing legal resources to fight the silliness. (Currently, EFF is seeing through a patent office review of the "podcasting patent," which was on the original Patent Busting list.)

Judging by the success of Louie CK's television show, a significant number of people these days seem to enjoy experiencing an odd mixture of humor, pain, and general despair at the human condition. For those with such proclivities, EFF's "Stupid Patent of the Month" will be sure to... entertain.