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The things people are claiming patent rights to get more and more bizarre. Quite where the crucial “inventive step” is here, we’re not sure, but Yoshio Shimuzu of Tokyo reckons his idea will give extra “stickiness” to websites (W0 02/44975). Many websites, he notes, have an access counter on their opening page, boasting the number of people who have previously “hit” the site. Shimuzu simply suggests a feature that lets people guess what the count will be by a specified date and time, with the closest prediction winning a prize from a sponsor. You click on the counter to place your guess and – joy of…