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It's kind of tragic to apply for a patent on a newly discovered phenomenon without a foggy idea of the utility of such phenomenon and by extension of a patent o
by dsign 9y ago
It's kind of tragic to apply for a patent on a newly discovered phenomenon without a foggy idea of the utility of such phenomenon and by extension of a patent on it. It's like applying for a patent on black holes. With the difference that pocket black holes are known to be very efficient mass-to-energy engines...
Phenomenons in science should be public domain.
- anigbrowl 9y agoThe patent isn't on the phenomenon, but on the method of producing it: The stream of water is an 85-micron-diameter jet blasting from a specially designed nozzle at 9,000 pounds per square inch that strikes the crystal plate with an impact velocity of around 1,000 feet per second. Perhaps this exists in nature somewhere but but it seems pretty unlikely. I too would prefer it to be public domain but we live ina market-dominated society right now.
- ehsankia 9y agoThat seems like a very specific setup that probably took years of research and trials. It's only fair that they can have some rights. The issue isn't so much patents, but how patents are used and, more precisely, abused.
- dantheman 9y agoPatents are an artificial construct -- their purpose is how they can be used. If they are being abused, or used incorrectly, then they are flawed and need to be fixed.
- pavel_lishin 9y agoThis is the comment in this chain that asks how you judge whether a particular artificial construct is being abused or used incorrectly, especially with regard to patents.
- abakker 9y agoFWIW, water jets produce about 100000 psi through special nozzles which mix garnet grit in. I wonder how specialized this nozzle is vs the standard cutting ones.
- gonzo 9y ago85 microns is about 0.003315“. The smallest commercially available water jet nozzles are about 0.003”.
- zitterbewegung 9y agoAt least with a Patent they disclose how they are doing the process to the USPTO. When GHCQ created public key cryptography they didn't disclose the concept and it had to be reinvented by Academics (Not to discount the researchers because they moved it much farther though). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-key_cryptography#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-key_cryptography#Histor...
- kevin_thibedeau 9y agoTriboluminescense is not a new phenomenon. This is a novel way to create a stable plasma structure. This is precisely what patents are for.