San Diego-based Internet index Bomis.com today announced it has secured the patent on frivolous patents.

The patent covers the patenting of straightforward, common sense business models and other broadly-defined practices for the purpose of making money from legal action. Legal action includes both suing other parties over patent infringement, as well as threatening to sue if other parties fail to pay nominal fees and commissions. This second practice is not to be confused with extortion, which is something else entirely.

The patent also covers the practice of including mention of the frivolous patent in business plans, prospectuses, IPO filings, and other official documents, for the purpose of making investors think one's position in the market is more secure than it actually is.

"This patent secures Bomis.com's position in the market," an anonymous corporate drone told members of the press in a stilted monotone.

When asked for the patent number, the drone replied, "Unfortunately I don't have that information available at this time. I seem to recall it was a prime number, though."

The patent on frivolous patents is not Bomis.com's first experience with frivolous patents. Last year the company attempted to patent the process of destroying a national economy with stupid, short-sighted regulations. That patent had to be abandoned when it was determined that every government on earth could claim prior art.

The Bomis.com spokesman was very optimistic about this latest patent, however, pointing to numerous infringements in recent months.

Bomis, named after the Latin word for 'Internet portal site', is an index of member-built rings which includes links to nearly 1 million web pages. The site sees over 2 million unique visitors per month, making it among the largest independent sites left on the Internet.