Re:How broken is the USPTO: How is this a patent
by upofadown on Sunday August 12, 2018 @07:16PM
(#17747009)
That might of been the case at one point in time but the current patent system allows the retention of the trade secret that makes the invention actually work as well as allowing a patent on that same invention. That is because there is no longer a requirement that the invention can be reproduced from the patent because this is no longer tested.
There was once a time when an actual working prototype had to be submitted to gain a patent. This "having your cake and eating it too" issue was why such a cumbersome requirement existed.
There are companies out there who do not know why a particular product works as well as it does. Those companies can still get a patent that does not describe the invention in a way that would allow someone to reproduce the desirable attributes of that product. They then can sue any smarter companies that actually can figure out the secret.
There was once a time when an actual working prototype had to be submitted to gain a patent. This "having your cake and eating it too" issue was why such a cumbersome requirement existed.
There are companies out there who do not know why a particular product works as well as it does. Those companies can still get a patent that does not describe the invention in a way that would allow someone to reproduce the desirable attributes of that product. They then can sue any smarter companies that actually can figure out the secret.