Just to clear up some mis-information on patents -
Patents were created to protect guys like YOU, the "little guys". Suppose you invented some item that saved everybody $50/month, but only cost $200. Demand would be out of this world, you're gonna be famous for all the folks you've helped. However, you spent 10yrs of your life developing it after work and in lieu of family time and other opportunities. So you'd like to recover some $$$ for all the time you've put in. Maybe have enough to retire early so that you could stop the 7-6 routine and catch up with your family and friends.
However, there is a problem. As soon as you show this item, some MBA from Walmart gets a copy, sends it to China and now mass markets the item, basically taking up all the market share. For your 10yrs of effort, you sold 200 of them and made $2000. Not the $2,000,000 you were hoping for, all because there was no way to protect your idea from a big manufacturer. So in the future you'll never spend the time to do something like this. Nor would anyone else.
BUT WAIT - There is a way, its called a patent. A patent is basically the Govt giving you a legal monopoly to sell an item for a given period (about 17 years) in exchange for full disclosure of the idea. That disclosure allows society to improve after you've passed on, basically so you don't take the innovation to your grave. The patent can only be issued to the inventor, a person. Not a dog, not a cat, not a company, not a LLC. Only a person. By doing this, it protects... you. After you have your patent, maybe you don't have a big manufacturing factory to make them to satisfy demand. You can sell your patent rights (monopoly rights) to ... Walmart, Target, whomever you'd like. The price is negotiated by you or your representatives. It might even be the $2,000,000 you were hoping for. It might be more, but its only possible because there is a patent system and you took the effort to apply for the patent. And of course, if they start using your idea without your permission, you can take them to court.
Some nifty features of patents to protect everyone -
- Patents are NOT issued to companies, only individuals.
- Patents cannot be issued to things that were invented by someone else.
- If an item has been in the public domain for a year or longer, then its considered pubic domain and cannot be patented.
We know the USPTO is staffed by people, who are imperfect, so in case a patent was accidentally issued for something that violates the above rules, then in a patent claim, that information is shown and the patent claim is voided.
So if Bill P. gave his ideas and information out for public use, the we commend him for his generosity and know that someone else cannot patent his ideas.
Could it be possible, that Oneida has been in the business long before Bill P and has purchased patent rights on other aspects of a dust collector cyclone? An that Bill P is actually using some of the technology that Oneida has previously patented in his cyclones? Bill is a smart guy and its not inconceivable that he may have arrived at some feature that was created by a research scientist 5 years earlier, that was patented and sold to Oneida?
