Too obvious?

Microsoft was granted a patent (number 7039699) on Tuesday for "tracking usage behavior in computer systems" with invisible images and "small sized cookies" to track visitors, writes Techdirt. The patent application was filed on May 2, 2000 (application number 563706).

"The claims seem to get fairly specific, concerning keeping the cookies small (as to be less resource intensive) and using the system across multiple domains (generally frowned upon for cookie usage) to track usage outside the single domain," according to Techdirt.