Don't quit the day job!

invention

Actually, he is looking for someone else to spend the money making it, and then if any one actually buys one, he will take his percentage. That way, his only investment is whatever it cost for the patent, assuming he even got one. The only reason for a patent is to prevent someone from stealing your idea, and I think this one is safe from that.

 

Toh

Never watch it, because it gets frustrating seeing how easy it is to erect, or remodel, a building in a matter of a few days.

 

fitting

It is a "gem" because it was designed for ONE specific application, and the number of times you would need it, or would even have the room for it are so limited that they might sell a few a month, or more likely one or two a year. Not nearly enough to justify the expense of producing it. I cannot remember ANY TIME, or installation where I might have used one of them, and that is over a 55+ year time span.

 

Actually patents are not designed to protect the inventor. A patent is designed to help the economy of the US, by showing everyone exactly how to make a new device, which will be beneficial to the general public. New inventions can save energy, reduce cost, expedite installation, or show completely new methods, which can benefit everyone. For having drawn and explained exactly how to make the invention that everyone can benefit from, the patent holder is given 17 or 20 years of protection. After this period of patent protection, anyone can build these devices to help benefit mankind. There are lots of examples of this working. Automobile engines, self contained or cartridge ammunition, airplanes and many other things started out this way.

The problem is, that really new inventions or ideas take time to be pioneered into the marketplace. Actually it takes about 17 years to pioneer a new product or idea. One example of this, is the diaphragm or bladder type pressure tank used for water well pumps. For many years there was only one brand of these type tanks available under the protection of a patent. For many years the inventor tried to market the benefits of this new type pressure tank. He received heavy criticism from standard tank manufacturers and other people in the industry. They told him that a pressure tank needed two connection, that water could not come and go through a single opening, as with his invention. They told him that water in the diaphragm would get stale or contaminated. They told him that smaller size tanks with a diaphragm could not do the same job as larger standard tanks. They did everything they could to discredit the inventor, and keep his new invention from being accepted by the public.

The inventor knew the advantages of this idea and was persistent to get it accepted in the industry. Just so happens it took about 17 years before his idea became widely accepted. All of a sudden, because the patent had expired, there were dozens of different brands of this new design on the market. Now it is the most common type of pressure tank in the world. The inventor is now just one of the many manufacturers of this type tank, and must compete head to head on price with people who just waited until his patent expired before adopting his idea as the new standard.

This happens with almost all new products and ideas. So a good patent is much more beneficial to the general public, than it is to the inventor.

As for the patent discussed in this thread, you can get a patent on just about anything. You can even get a patent on a concrete walking stick but, it doesn't mean it is a good idea or that it will sell. A good patent is one that someone tries to steal, of they try to hold you back until your patent expires. Most big companies know that it is better to steal or wait out a patent, than it is to invent something useful themselves. None of this is good for the inventor.