Lockheed Martin has quietly obtained a patent associated with its design for a potentially revolutionary compact fusion reactor, or CFR. This is a patent appli

Lockheed Martin has quietly obtained a patent associated with its design for a potentially revolutionary compact fusion reactor, or CFR. This is a patent application, not a patent. The difference is significant. A patent application can be filed by anyone on any idea, without government review. A patent is granted by the US government after a review process. Part of the review deals with whether the application contains enough information for "one skilled in the art" to reproduce the invention.