This is addressed to all those working on radical new technologies that are highly desirable (in principle) but that probably threaten very large scale (i.e., Global) industrial interests. Be warned – learning curve ahead…
A few years back, a friend of mine was involved in the prototype of a phenomenally efficient turbofan engine, a completely revolutionary design – very light and with essentially only one moving part, a fan which ran on an air bearing. It would – had the technology been properly developed – have saved airlines colossal amounts of money on fuel savings. Or so it was claimed! So what did this group of highly intelligent designers do? They took it to an oil company to be tested.
What a surprise, then, when it was blown up in the test laboratory.
An unfortunate accident to the only prototype? Well, maybe – but there are a significant number of reports of similar happenings with inventions that impact the interests of big business.
Well, we all know that oil companies are gentle, paternalistic and have the vital interests of humanity at the core of their every decision they make. Yes, you can safely take your prototype to the organisation who are most affected by the loss of revenue caused by great efficiency or the like – of course they will guard it with great integrity.
And watch out for that pig overhead….DUH!
What does this have to do with patenting? Well, dear reader, there are many, many powerful vested interests out there, and they do not take kindly to that which threatens their revenues. Especially wonderful new technologies that benefit humanity by removing reliance on…those very same big businesses. They want their own brand of ‘golden goose’ to keep on laying for just as long as possible – and no upstart with other ideas will be tolerated! Just remember – your revolutionary idea is almost certainly someone else’s major threat. This is true of many areas of technology, but let us take a look at the world of so-called ‘free energy’ – mostly inhabited by quantum energy devices which – to use the current vernacular ‘take energy from the vacuum’ – and indeed, any other significant energy innovation.
Have you noticed how many of these have received very positive publicity – and then disappeared without trace shortly afterwards? Now, why do you imagine this is? Let us look at some examples:
*The electricity genius Nicola Tesla (inventor of AC current) had his great experimental tower destroyed by his own patron, Westinghouse (the man) when he discovered that Tesla was working on a system to take electricity from the atmosphere. Why? – because the industrialist could see that such a device could not be metered = potential for swiftly falling revenues from his then new investment in what was to become a national AC current electrical delivery system.
*The brilliant inventor Royal Rife was systematically and completely discredited – based on completely untrue claims - because he discovered how to create power from a quantum effect.
*Victor Shauberger had all his wonderful inventions – including highly efficient vortex generators for use in rivers – stolen by (arguably) the agents of US Government acting on behalf of (rumored to be) Standard Oil.
*The wonderful material Hemp was completely demonized (by deliberately confusing it with the related hallucinogenic variant of cannabis) because it threatened all sorts of highly valuable industrial by-products being developed by the oil industry.
*Cold Fusion was made a global laughing stock by relentless waves of ‘negative spin’ from the vested interests – yet the technology is still being worked on, and there are persistent rumors that it is working. But it was stopped in its tracks, and it is twenty three years on from FleisHman and Pon’s original announcement, with still no public result or commercially operational system. Very effective spin!
*California’s initiative to bring in an advanced electric car was crushed (200 cars that the leasing public loved literally were) because the oil industry could not stand the experiment being seen as a success – so they bribed everyone in sight to get the project stopped and the legislation that enabled it set aside. (see the film – available on the web – “Who killed the Electric Car” – there is also a great 2 minute review of it that puts the case very succinctly at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsJAlrYjGz8 ) The breakthrough technology that created a wonderfully useable electric car was bought out by an oil company and quashed, its inventor legally banned from working in the same field again.
There are many, many lesser known cases, all killed off by vested interests, most of which turn out to be the oil industry.
How does this relate to the question of patenting? Isn’t taking out a patent the right thing for an inventor to do to protect his interests? Well, in a completely fair world, of course. But we don’t – sadly – have one of those yet.
Ask yourself this question: “Would the oil industry monitor upcoming patents in order to protect their interests?” Would other industries with similar concerns? Look out for low flying pigs again if you get the answer wrong!
I was told by an oil industry insider I used to know very well that the big oil companies – the group that used to be know as ‘The Seven Sisters’ – each have a hidden legal (and dirty tricks) department dealing with potential commercial threats (i.e., free energy and the like). These departments are all interlinked, and the sisters act in concert to eliminate any technology development that threatens their global monopoly. The term ‘Seven Sisters’ was coined in the 1950’s, and referred to the group that comprised Anglo-Persian Oil Company (now BP); Gulf Oil; Standard Oil of California (Socal); Texaco (now Chevron); Royal Dutch Shell; Standard Oil of New Jersey (Esso); and Standard Oil Company of New York (Socony) (now Exxon Mobil).
Heavyweight – or what! So, the instant you start the work of presenting a patent for governmental approval in any major country, you are under close scrutiny by others who DO NOT have your interests at heart. If your patent is granted, one of the following will happen:
*You will be offered a well-funded partnership for ‘development’ – you may or may not know that your intending partner is an oil company, for it may be a nominee. The terms of the partnership mean that you can be closed down in certain circumstances (which can be manufactured to order when needed), or
*Your patent will be 'ring fenced' by lots of others that combine to make yours unworkable, or
*You will be offered a straight buy-out with terms that exclude you from further work on similar technology. Your brilliant invention will be shelved, or
*You or your family will be threatened, or, in extremis, you will have a most unfortunate accident.
Your patent application is like putting up a huge neon sign saying ‘HIT ME NOW’. How do you get around this? Firstly, I am reminded about the ‘Cathar Prophesy’, which, alongside much else, talks about ‘doing good by stealth’. Inventors fall into two categories in my experience: those driven by an over-riding greed (who you really cannot reason with) and those who genuinely wish to benefit humanity.
The remainder of this note is addressed to the latter category.
Here are a series of actions that can be worked into an effective strategy, one that will create good income – though perhaps not as much as the rare major patent success.
1. Get really clear that ‘benefiting humanity’ is your objective and a primary project driver.
2. Keep your project under wraps and definitely do not apply for a patent. Work on a strict ‘need to know’ basis until it becomes commercially available
3. Get it through the prototyping process and be sure about its efficacy – do it very, very privately
4. You will need help for the next part – concentrate on the absolute integrity of your partners, your project will stand or fall by this. Their job is to find manufacturing and distribution partners in many places around the planet without alerting the big competitors.
5. This is probably best done with intelligent / high integrity networking. The idea is to get your technology moving in many places so that it is hard to suppress. Think of the Greek mythological ‘Hydra’. Every time one manufacturing and distributing unit gets nullified (which will probably happen), two or more spring up in its place.
6. Now this one is a challenge – recognise that, if someone steals your technology and puts it into production your objective of benefiting humanity is being fulfilled! You can deal with this by making your licensing arrangement so accessible and inexpensive that the natural place for a would-be competitor to come is TO YOU
7. This approach is greatly helped if you commoditise the cost of your technology as soon as possible. Without huge profit margins (the normal reason for technology theft in the commercial arena) it is pointless to steal the technology. Again, if someone else wants to make your invention, the easiest way to get going is to come to you for inexpensive licensing and technology transfer. And this approach should be really effective in ‘getting it out there’ quickly.
8. A big defence is to intentionally put the technology into the public domain. How to utilise it can still be a black art that only the fully licensed get to understand, and it stops others from patenting what you have created – oh yes, believe me, they will do that, and have often done so!
9. If there are likely to be many enhancements and new versions along the way, this, too, is an incentive to be part of your licensing arrangement. Look at what the electronics industry does with processor chips and similar – they don’t bother patenting any more. The life of a specific design is shorter than the time it takes to patent. So – keep moving the technology forward if the opportunity exists, and use it as a defence.
It takes courage to follow this kind of approach - but with a little planning you can do well financially out of the above – and the chances of your technology ‘making it’ into global markets without being stopped by ‘big brother intimidation’ are greatly increased.
Your income derives from terrific commoditised volume, licensing and training fees. You are alive and doing well because you DID NOT PATENT.
Also, great satisfaction can come from always recalling that your primary purpose and driver is – SERVING HUMANITY
So, the message is this: To succeed against all the odds of pressure from powerful vested interests, it is necessary to re-invent what it means to be an inventor, look well beyond your invention to the issues of 'getting it out there safely', together with a genuine and complete commitment to first and foremost serving humanity with your inventions by thwarting the controllers system.
So...STAY AWAY FROM THE PATENTING PROCESS!
Print
