[time-nuts] WWVB for Time Nuts

[Bob Camp]

Hi

Keep in mind that it’s relatively cheap (big company wise) to get a patent. It’s only got major value once the courts uphold it as valid. That process costs real money. I’ve seen a variety of estimates on how many patents get issued that would never stand up to challenge. None of the estimates I’ve seen have been below 50%, some are a lot higher. Since the patents for "sunscreen that’s only useful on the moon" also get tossed into some of the estimates, who knows what the real numbers are. 

Often the protection process becomes a “we have 689 patents on this gizmo” sort of thing. Even if 99% of them are bunk, it will cost you a lot to prove that. You still would have to pay based on the 1% that turn out to be valid. The net result is a system that never challenges (and clears out) the junk. 

Bob

On Aug 10, 2014, at 4:24 AM, Dr. David Kirkby (Kirkby Microwave Ltd) <drkirkby at kirkbymicrowave.co.uk> wrote:

> On 10 Aug 2014 05:39, "Jim Lux" <jimlux at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
>> (but, I gotta say that a lot of the patents that get published in the
> back of things like IEEE Ant and Prop Magazine seem, to me, to be pretty
> obvious..)
> 
> I have not looked at patents recently,  but most I have looked in the past
> are  fairly obvious to someone skilled in that area. Another large group
> appears to be useless things.
> 
> Perhaps time-nuts should stick on a web site a list of 100 obvious things
> that they believe someone might just try to patent.  Once an idea is
> disclosed like that, it should stop a patent being issued. Perhaps a
> braille clock with an internal atomic frequency reference. I don't suppose
> anyone has made one, as the demand would be low, but it is in my a opinion
> fairly obvious approach for a skilled person.
> 
> I assume there is some time delay (probably in the range 100 us to 10s)
> between one observing a clock and one's brain decoding it. So for a person
> to believe that they know the time, the clock actually has to display it a
> bit fast.
> 
> But more seriously,  one could probably have some impact on time nut
> related patents by documenting semi obvious things on a web site in
> advance.
> 
> I recall being at the patent office in London and see someone had a patent
> on a screen built into a microwave oven hooked upto a video camera so you
> could check on the security of your premises while cooking.
> 
> I guess with China pretty much ignoring patents, it might become more
> attractive to keep something a trade secret rather than patent it.
> 
> I believe Samsung and Apple have recently agreed to drop patent
> infringement cases against each other outside the USA
> 
> http://www.forbes.com/sites/amitchowdhry/2014/08/06/apple-and-samsung-drop-patent-disputes-against-each-other-outside-of-the-u-s/
> 
> I know BT and Marconi did a similar thing, as I guess that they realised
> that they were spending an excessive amount of money fighting each other
> over patent infringement.
> 
> Dave.
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