4 ms·
Are they still covered by the patents that made them unattractive initially? Patent expiry could very well be the reason for their increased popularity.
by mtsr 3y ago
Are they still covered by the patents that made them unattractive initially? Patent expiry could very well be the reason for their increased popularity.
- mattygabe 3y agoTorx patent expired in 2011, so that's increasingly likely why it's taken off. Edited to add: the "Torx Plus" design's patent expired in 2011, which was put in place in 1990 as the original Torx patent was expiring then. Some more nuance, but there ya go.
- mananaysiempre 3y agoWikipedia tells me the original Torx patent[1] was filed in the 1960s, so anything related should have long since expired. (There’s apparently also a “Torx Plus” patented[2] in the early 1990s around the time the original patent was expiring, but I don’t believe anybody deliberately chooses that one. Expired in 2011.) [1] US 3,584,667, https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/3584667 https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloa... [2] US 5,207,132, https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/5207132 https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloa...
- cantSpellSober 3y agoMy understanding is that the patents for Torx (and Torx Plus) have expired. They're an ISO standard, "hexalobular internal" (which is much more fun to say).