I'm with everyone else here thinking its just ramped teeth for shifting ease and that the oP just wasn't aware of it when he bought the bike. I know what to look for in regards to worn teeth and i have acquired a few nice sets of cranksets due to someone not knowing that the teeth were supposed to be almost in half in certain parts of the chainring.

I also go though this nearly weekly with people who bring in their bike and say "look, the teeth are really worn" and then show them now there is a pattern to the teeth, such as with some Shimano, you have 2 lower teeth, then a middle taller tooth, then 2 more lower teeth, then 180 degrees away, the pattern repeats.

One tech even said "Hey Bo, check out the ripping teeth on that chain ring" and I had to explain to him that those teeth were made that way for shiffting ease.