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It can take a long time for a lawsuit to actually happen. There's a lot of ways to drag out negotiations over a patent and it can be a while before both parties
by kposehn 8y ago
It can take a long time for a lawsuit to actually happen. There's a lot of ways to drag out negotiations over a patent and it can be a while before both parties can't come to an agreement, resulting in a suit being filed.
- ceejayoz 8y agoYup. One of the best examples of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kearns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kearns A clearly novel invention (intermittent windshield wipers) that took decades and more than $10M legal fees to get paid for.
- ortusdux 8y agoTo be fair, Kearns did represent himself for most of that legal battle. I sure the cases would have been settled much more quickly had he been backed by MIT's lawyers.
- CamperBob2 8y agoIf I live to be a thousand years old, I'll never understand how that was considered "novel." But that's just me.
- ceejayoz 8y agoLots of inventions like this seem obvious in hindsight.
- yholio 8y agoClearly, without this invention, wipers to this day would still work on a sigle speed, calibrated for heavy rain. Millions of tons of wasted rubber and plastic, etc.
- ceejayoz 8y agoThe specific mechanism was quite clever. "Someone would've eventually invented this" can be said about everything we use. Someone would've figured out the Internet, internal combustion, flying, etc. That doesn't mean it's not a notable accomplishment to do so.
- CamperBob2 8y agoBut does every "notable accomplishment" require a 20-year monopoly? Anytime there's a foot race to the patent office, we, the consumers, are the inevitable loser.
- jfoutz 8y agoThere’s a movie that is sympathetic to kearns. Not the truth, might give some insight. Also it’s a pretty good movie. So likely not a total waste of time either way.