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What if these are "tanks"? The British didn't want to let anyone know they were building armored vehicles, thus the unassuming name that someone in 1915 would n

What if these are "tanks"? The British didn't want to let anyone know they were building armored vehicles, thus the unassuming name that someone in 1915 would not have guessed what it was. If the Navy has created a groundbreaking new device, but they want to hide its true nature, a far-fetched name like "gravitational wave", even though it's not the theoretical gravity wave it sounds like, lets you talk about it without an eavesdropper knowing what it is. That term, and "inertial mass reduction" have never been used in a patent before so the inventor is free to define them however he likes.

delecti 7y ago
> That term, and "inertial mass reduction" have never been used in a patent before so the inventor is free to define them however he likes. I'm apparently not familiar enough with the patent system. It seems like a pretty enormous flaw in the system if the first person to request a patent on the subject could completely redefine terms that have pretty unambiguous scientific meanings.
- jimktrains2 7y ago
  While I agree with you and I think parent's wording isn't the best, I think parent's point is that military tanks aren't liquid tankers or holding tanks like the term would have meant when the term was first used for military tanks, and military tanks were called that specifically to give little insight into what they did. Now no one takes issue with a military tank being called a tank.
- dangerface 7y ago
  > It seems like a pretty enormous flaw in the system if the first person to request a patent on the subject could completely redefine terms that have pretty unambiguous scientific meanings. Yup patent trolls make millions through this flaw they get the most vague patents they can and then sue everyone they see, they only need to win one case with a sleepy judge to make their money back.
bufferoverflow 7y ago
If you want to hide it, filing a patent application is a pretty dumb move.

delecti 7y ago

> That term, and "inertial mass reduction" have never been used in a patent before so the inventor is free to define them however he likes. I'm apparently not familiar enough with the patent system. It seems like a pretty enormous flaw in the system if the first person to request a patent on the subject could completely redefine terms that have pretty unambiguous scientific meanings.

jimktrains2 7y ago
While I agree with you and I think parent's wording isn't the best, I think parent's point is that military tanks aren't liquid tankers or holding tanks like the term would have meant when the term was first used for military tanks, and military tanks were called that specifically to give little insight into what they did. Now no one takes issue with a military tank being called a tank.
dangerface 7y ago
> It seems like a pretty enormous flaw in the system if the first person to request a patent on the subject could completely redefine terms that have pretty unambiguous scientific meanings. Yup patent trolls make millions through this flaw they get the most vague patents they can and then sue everyone they see, they only need to win one case with a sleepy judge to make their money back.

bufferoverflow 7y ago

If you want to hide it, filing a patent application is a pretty dumb move.