If they chose not to use it, they can sell it to someone Well, they can sell it to someone who is willing to continue supporting it for the use that the origin

If they chose not to use it, they can sell it to someone Well, they can sell it to someone who is willing to continue supporting it for the use that the original company couldn't make work. or release it into public domain Yeah, that "lose it" part is the problem - if they can't find a company that's willing to continue supporting what was already proven to be an unsuccessful use case, then their IP has no value.