valhalla360 wrote:
If they could boost MPG by 25%, the auto companies would bid billions for the patent as they could dominate the trucking industry (and other heavy commercial engines) for decades until the patent ran out.
As mentioned, patents aren't secret. They are publicly available. How else would you know if someone already patented an idea? Plus, you can use patented ideas but simply have to pay for them. So if true, it would be worth a court case to open the design to public use.
The patent holder can choose to not license the patent to others.
Exactly. There are a FEW patents that were/are considered top secret by the US gov't and issued but not published. Several such classified patents were issued to Hedi Lamar the actress. Even after they were unclassified they were hard to find since they were issued under her real name, not stage name, made it harder to search by patent holders name.
