It's commonsense and a customer courtesy. (Read My Guide to Buying a Saree)
Apparently the Patent Office awarded this methodology a patent in 2004. It is called "Alerting Users to Items of Current Interest"
Wow. (Link to Patent Docs at Google)
And now, Paul Allen, the owner of the patent is using every company who is engaged in this "commonsense" and "customer courtesy" by writing a computer program to achieve it. (Link to Story at BBC)
It is an excellent move by a pioneer to create highly paid, white-collar jobs in America.
So the next time the server at the restaurant asks you --"Do you want desert or coffee", you can tell her that someone has a patent on it.
