Patents cover *how* something is done. And are often more than a bit vague & general about the details.

If someone patents a method or process, it doesn't matter if you discover it independently.

This patent is likely another one of the many *bad* software patents the patent office has issued in the last ten years or so.

Many of them are getting challenged by several groups. Either on the grounds that they were "obvious to one familar with the field" or because someone else did it before the outfit that filed the patent.

It's hard to track down that last ("prior art"), but it's unshakeable if you do. Proving "obvious" in court is a lot harder.