IBM flushes restroom patent By Troy Wolverton Staff Writer, CNET News.com October 11, 2002, 2:28 PM PT IBM has quietly eliminated a patent it received on a method for determining who gets to use the bathroom next. The computing giant received a patent for a "system and method for providing reservations for restroom use" in December. But the company later decided to renounce all of its patent claims after a petition was made against it, according to documents released this week by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. IBM spokesman Chris Andrews acknowledged that the company withdrew the patent. "We...