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How the hell is this even patentable - its derivative of transmitting telephone and data from a balloon, which was done at least as early as the mid-50's.
by Aloha 10y ago
How the hell is this even patentable - its derivative of transmitting telephone and data from a balloon, which was done at least as early as the mid-50's.
- Steko 10y agoEdison's light bulbs were also derivative of many other efforts. Being derivative doesn't exclude you from being able to patent something.
- Aloha 10y agoEdisons bulb was actually novel, it was novel because it was a high resistance bulb (others were low resistance, so they consumed huge amounts of power), and it had a long life, hundreds of hours instead of tens of hours.
- Steko 10y agoSpace Data's invention looks more novel to me from what was done with balloons in the 50's than Edison's light bulb from Swan's and others, YMMV.
- ocdtrekkie 10y agoThis isn't just about a patent. This is about blatant theft of a technology they were introduced to under a written agreement of confidentiality. Which they then turned around, copied, and announced as their own supposedly incredibly original development project. All the research and investment Space Data put into to even proving the idea was viable, and Google takes all the credit.
- Dylan16807 10y agoUnless it's significantly more than these two patents, google created their system by themselves through lots of hard work and that's a very unfair summary.
- ocdtrekkie 10y agoThey broke a written confidentiality agreement with Space Data. You don't need an agreement like that for things you have patented (and hence are public and protected).
- Dylan16807 10y agoIf they actually copied tech, that's bad. But it matters how much they copied. And just because they decided not to license doesn't mean they copied anything. They might have made a 100% independent balloon system, and being in the news while not-first is not 'stealing credit'.
- bitmapbrother 10y agoDo you have any concrete proof of the accusations you're making or are you just making things up about Google again?
- icebraining 10y agoI'm certainly not one to be surprised that Google could violate an NDA or trade secrets, but it's not clear to me exactly what they are alleged to have copied. Is it to you? I mean, the basic concept and viability of an ubiquitous network of balloons providing Internet access had already been presented publicly by Space Data (see [1]), so you didn't have to violate an NDA to know that. The idea that you can control direction by changing altitude is also old as rocks (Jules Verne's Five Weeks in a Balloon is based on it). And it's not clear to me that they actual alleged that Google copied the actual mechanism and/or used their trial tests data. [1] http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=6520007226 http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=6520007226
- dboreham 10y agoAn NDA deals typical with disclosing of information. E.g. you visit Google to pitch your product and tell them you plan that launch it next year, or you have 200 customers signed up. The NDA says Google can't tell that stuff to the press or your competitors and possibly can't share that information with other divisions within Google (depends on the wording obviously). It would not cover "they'll copy our idea themselves". This is a standard, central concern with anyone pitching to BigCo and something you talk over and strategize about endlessly before the pitch. Everyone basically assumes it is a risk, hence the old advice "don't pitch to Microsoft", or I guess now: Google. If this is the basis for the case then it obviously has no merit.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- gribbly 10y ago>This is about blatant theft of a technology they were introduced to under a written agreement of confidentiality. Claims 'Space Data Corporation', let's not portray their statements as facts until there is evidence to back it up with.
- tremon 10y agoit's also about navigating your balloons so they keep forming a connected and reliable mesh, regardless of weather conditions.