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There are several problems with this idea, as I see it: 1. The assignee is the US Navy. He won't personally profit. 2. Protection is given for the claims, not

There are several problems with this idea, as I see it: 1. The assignee is the US Navy. He won't personally profit. 2. Protection is given for the claims, not for the abstract, diagrams or specification. The claims have to describe something relatively concrete or they'll be rejected. You can't obtain patents for titles or elevator pitches. 3. Even if it's granted and you think GE infringes, they might disagree. Welcome to patent litigation, which is super expensive. 4. Even if it's not granted, it might be successfully cited as prior art against GE's application. You won't get royalties on nothing. 5. Patents expire. If you're patenting science fiction, yours might expire decades before it's actually possible. I have filed a patent on my own time and dime. It is much harder than it looks. ~$50,000 USD and hundreds of hours of work over 5+ years.

otaviokz 7y ago
I'm not sure I got it right: Did it cost you ~$50k to file your patent?
- sgt101 7y ago
  This is in the ball park for a patent being filed and managed internationally (say Japan, USA and Europe) through all the stages to grant. Which takes ~5 years. And then over it's life cycle - there's a lot of admin. I've been regularly quoted £20k.
  - jacques_chester 7y ago
    Yep. I filed through through WIPO for worldwide priority. Eventually my finances stretched as far as obtaining an Australian patent and a US patent. EU was going to cost tens of thousands for low probability. Chinese patent would've cost another 10k at least and it would be a gamble on the future state of IP enforcement there. There will be more expenses. $50k was the get as far as the US patent. I've spent another $3k since then on costs arising from other paperwork around it.
- Beltiras 7y ago
  That's a cheap patent. Especially given the timescale. Look at it this way. Can you find a lawyer to help shepherd a patent for 5 years and his/her fee is less then 10.000 dollars per year?
  - jacques_chester 7y ago
    I kept down the cost by doing a ton of the legwork myself. Lots of drafting, diagrams, picking apart the examiner's citations etc. But for a lot of it you absolutely need a professional to help.
- beauzero 7y ago
  ...and there are ancillary patents, for defense of the original patent, that need to be filed in order to keep up with competition. I have a buddy who has several patents for polishing concrete vertically https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMSR0R8tA8A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMSR0R8tA8A

otaviokz 7y ago

I'm not sure I got it right: Did it cost you ~$50k to file your patent?

sgt101 7y ago
This is in the ball park for a patent being filed and managed internationally (say Japan, USA and Europe) through all the stages to grant. Which takes ~5 years. And then over it's life cycle - there's a lot of admin. I've been regularly quoted £20k.
- jacques_chester 7y ago
  Yep. I filed through through WIPO for worldwide priority. Eventually my finances stretched as far as obtaining an Australian patent and a US patent. EU was going to cost tens of thousands for low probability. Chinese patent would've cost another 10k at least and it would be a gamble on the future state of IP enforcement there. There will be more expenses. $50k was the get as far as the US patent. I've spent another $3k since then on costs arising from other paperwork around it.
Beltiras 7y ago
That's a cheap patent. Especially given the timescale. Look at it this way. Can you find a lawyer to help shepherd a patent for 5 years and his/her fee is less then 10.000 dollars per year?
- jacques_chester 7y ago
  I kept down the cost by doing a ton of the legwork myself. Lots of drafting, diagrams, picking apart the examiner's citations etc. But for a lot of it you absolutely need a professional to help.
beauzero 7y ago
...and there are ancillary patents, for defense of the original patent, that need to be filed in order to keep up with competition. I have a buddy who has several patents for polishing concrete vertically https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMSR0R8tA8A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMSR0R8tA8A