just heard it on the radio in the garage. http://www.livingonearth.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=05-P13-00050&segmentID=7
GRRR. I read about that once before and it really makes me angry. They should just give the guy a little cash. Nothing close to the billions he should have. I bet he could really make some bad ass shit. Maybe get in on the infantile hybrid aftermarket. He knows it better than anyone. Maybe become the edelbrock of hybrids.
Well, having spent my entire career in the "Patent" business, first as an illustrator then as a patent agent, all I can say is the system is NOT friendly to independent inventors. In my opinion (and it's just mine) the only reason that people become attorneys is to get a job that pays them well. There are very very few that do it for idealistic reasons. And, the reason that engineers become patent attorneys is because, well, see the above. So, the idea that an attorney will actually look out for your interests unless a big fat check is attached is a very naive one at best. And, to think that a company that is in the throws of liquidization will give one hoot for the little guy is laughable. As long as the CEO's are getting theit separation package who gives a shit about anyone else. Unfortunately, the U S Patent and Trademark Office could give a crap whether or not justice is done. Just pay them their fees. Justice-it only exists on TV, occassionally. John
Mildly eclectic inventor and a very poor businessman. BFD, that story plays out thousands of times a year in this country.
Lemme digest this whole thing for you, Quote from the article: GOLDSTEIN: Here was a man who believed his invention could change the world for the better: cheaper, cleaner cars, a better environment, less dependence on foreign oil. The world was his oyster. He was eating in fine restaurants, talking with top executives at big automakers, and he was turning down multimillion dollar offers to develop engines for the likes of GM. All because his venture capitalist, Investment Rarities, thought it could get more. But when its core business, gold trading, went south in the late 1980s, Investment Rarities dropped Cob and his patents. Cob recalled the grim day in 1988 when he stood between the local post office and a McDonald's trying to decide whether to spend the only money he had left on a cheeseburger for his growling stomach, or postage for his last remaining patent. In summary, DUMBASS. A man with no working knowleged of the auto industry and certainly not someone concerned with "cheaper,cleaner, better" as he claimed. He was purely in it for GREED and Capitalism and he lost big time. He deserves nothing but to be a footnote in history. BFD happens alot. As for being the Edelbrock of Hybrids? Never was going to happen. He wanted big bucks, why else talk to high risk investment capitalists and romance the big three. Vic didn't start out that way he built a forthright buisness on a few small products and grew it bigger with the profits and investsors that came to him. Big difference. Did anyone notice this? "By the time I finished telling John the particulars, we had arrived at our destination, Bendsten's Transmission Center." Is it possibly the same Bendsten's as this? http://www.transmissionadapters.com He is a registered HAMB member and has posted. Maybe he could chime in on the gory details of gettting stiffed by the man because he didn't play by the rules.
elpo yes I got that too, obsession with the single invention and the untold wealth that one thing might bring the writer gives the impression that the inventer put all his eggs in one basket and let somebody else drop it sad, but not surprising
i dunno, i see a brilliant, yet eccentric man, who like many of us, has plenty of ideas, but not the cubic dollars to make it happen. you NEED outside help in this case. i could go on and on about why the guy deserves more than a kick in the ass, but i'll just keep it simple. this guy is dirt poor for trying to improve our world, while some so called "builders" are getting rich by starring in male dramas on TV where they happen to crank out ugly bikes or cars while they occupy the simple minds of the masses.
Well it is hard to get through that sleepy public radio format with the music buttons and all but the story is entirely compelling to me. In the story they mention Nicola Tesla who designed the alternating current power plant at Niagra Falls for George Westinghouse. He got screwed on all his patents as well and died penniless in a walk-up in NYC while Westinghouse went on to fame and fortune. He was the guy who is the father of modern electronics, forget Marconi, Tesla invented radio. Just because he died penniless doesn't make him some dumb ass loser, he just got ground under the wheels like a lot of others and COB is the same sort of tragic figure. We owe these sorts of visionaries a lot, we wouldn't have what we have if it wasn't for geeks like these guys. Just my 2 cents.
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4961406.html Bizzare, it appears he still has the patent? Maybe it is for sale or something. Kind of worthless and dated by new technology now, maybe that is the tradgedy here. Ray, he may indeed be brilliant and eccentric but he is a very poor businessman with aparently no grasp of the automotive industry. To have an offer to design engines for GM and turn it down is comical at best. You cannot blame anyone for his demise but Cob himself. Bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush. Consider Jim Fueling, eccentric, brilliant and successfull. Unfortuneatly room temprature now but in his prime developed new and easy to manufacture combustion shapes, engine designs and fuel mapping that is still being used today. Maybe he didn't die a richer man than Corliss imagined his own fate to be, but Jim died far wealthier and left a much more indelible mark on automotive history.
by and large, patents are a total waste of time. all they do is provide your competition with a working set of drawings to copy your idea, and then just change it enough to clear the patent. i have a very talented friend who reckons he has an idea that would totally revolutionise the auto-industry, but refuses to tell anyone because he knows he'll get dicked. i've worked with the guy enough to know he's a very talented engineer, and it's a shame that the world may be a poorer place because guys like him keep their idea's to themselves, because they know they won't get the recognition they deserve. the best form of patent is a product that destroys itself when you try to open it...
Truer words were never spoken. My old boss had a highly patentable breakthrough product but he never applied, just kept his formula a proprietary trade secret which was smart. Competitors and suppliers were always hanging around the plant hoping to buy him out or learn something about the process. They took me to lunch many times since I was plant manager. Of course I knew the secrets but I never told anyone anything despite all the hints that I could be rich. I just told them over and over that I didn't know anything. Maybe I was dumb for doing that since my boss kind of screwed me later on but at least I can live with myself. He got his anyway when he fell on hard times and had to sell his formulas for way less than they were worth. I heard recently through mutual acquaintances that he wanted to patch things up with me but f**k him.
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