Hot Dog Saw Tested on Finger

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Patents can be found invalid for many reasons.
I remember a case where a guy had patented swiveling handgrips for a wheelbarrow. Somehow the patent ended up inadvertantly giving him a patent on the whole wheelbarrow. It was struck down in a court case, and he lost his patent. I'm not sure if he was ever able to resubmit for a new patent for just the handgrips. It's not a quick or cheap process.
His patent may not be quite as "Locked up" as you think.
Besides, a patent merely gives you standing to sue. It's still up to you to defend your own patent at your own expense. You can't just call the cops and make a complaint. If you lack the financial means to initiate and fight lawsuits, your patent won't do you ANY good.
I'll bet Ryobi or Dewalt have a lot more resources than this guy. One of them might decide to produce a saw with the same feature done differently, and go in understanding he might sue them. The little guy occasionally wins those sorts of battles, but it's rare.

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Well that makes me feel better. I had come up with The World's Best Idea one night in a bar and wanted to patent it, and the next morning I couldn't remember The Idea. Glad to know I didn't really lose anything. ;)
R

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I worked for a large multinational for *many* years on a very active patent review board (we reviewed around 200 patents a year). How many patents do you hold?
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Absolutely false. The has the patent on a sensor connected to a saw blade detecting a human limb activating a blade brake. *ANY* sensor that detects human contact with the blade and activates *ANY* sort of blade brake falls under this patent. That's a pretty damned broad concept. Have you even read the subject patent?

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I understand enough to know that patents can be gotten around. I know that patents don't stop others from doing as they please. I know a company that filed suit against about a dozen companies for infringing on his patent. After 6 years, all he has to show so far is a big stack of lawyer bills.
Just because you are not clever enough to get around it does not mean that some smart guy working in his basement will not. Sorry, but that's the way it is. As I said, we'll talk again in a few years to see the status.

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Some can. Some are so basic and broad that they cannot. This one is in the latter category.
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No courts keep people from doing what they please. If you don't think SawStop is going to defend its patents to the death, you're nuts. They have a lock on this one.
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You're simply clueless.

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Your opinion.
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Of course they will defend it, just as the example I gave. Years later, the "infringers" are doing business as usual, the patent holder is paying lawyer fees and has recovered nothing, stopped nothing. Only winner so far is the lawyers.
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Your small minded opinion. The future is not over yet. Lets talk later.

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My INFORMED opinion, as opposed to your pull-it-out-your-ass wishful claptrap. I know how to read patents.
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Look at the market (for table saws) before you make an even bigger fool of yourself.
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You're being the wishful virgin dreaming about her knight. "Technology" will not solve all of you're imagined problems just because of your wants.

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Yes, do you read patents because you don't know how to design a better mousetrap? People say they will never put a man on the moon either, but my guess is, some day it will happen. Oh, wait . . . . .
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What does the market for table saws have to do with you calling people names? Shows your thinking ability.
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Remains to be seen. People thought Galileo was nuts too. And Copernicus. And many others. Careful in that boat, you don't want to fall off the edge of the earth.

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Some patents are rock solid. Bonney tools invented the flank drive box wrench and had a lock on it for the patent's entirety. The patent has since expired and now everybody and their dog makes some version of it. When the patent was valid, Bonney had such a lock on it, most ppl didn't even know flank drive existed.
nb

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Fein Multi-Master.

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OK one out of how many? Sure some survive, as they should, but others often are out foxed at some point. Do you have statistics on how many are never challenged. I know a guy that have five rock solid patents too. He's never made a single item, neither has anyone else. But he has the patent.

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Haven't a clue.
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Nary a one, and couldn't care less.
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I've seen those. Had an acquaintance who patented the dumbest travel grill ever conceived, a collapsable 5 sided "portable" grill made with 1/4" steel plate!! We tried to warn him off, to no avail. I think the patent cost him close to $5K and never a one was made. It was hilarious cuz the damn thing was too stupid for anyone to even use, let alone copy.
nb

notbob wrote:
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On the other hand, some good ideas DON'T get patented.
On the other hand, I once took a program I'd written to the VP of Development (a program for resolving miss-ties in gravity surveys). He said "This is too good to patent. We'll have to treat it as a trade secret."

As much I do know WHAT EVER MAY HAVE MAYBE DOING AS LONG YOU ARE STATING THAT YOUR PATENT IS UPGRADE OR MODIFICATION OF PARTICULAR ITEM YOU ARE FREE TO DO SO! no one can stop you or sue you.
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Why don't you take your fortune and gamble it against his patent. You will *not* win. No one else is stupid enough to try.

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Nice dodge.

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I'm sure the sensing mechanism is pretty basic. Instant touch sensing switches have been around for years. I think the real patent is on the complex electro-mechanical circuit and mechanism that jams that alum block into the blade before it can do any real damage. The design of a mechanism that reacts so quickly is surely innovative and worthy of a patent.
nb

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You "think" wrong.

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re: "The price premium is high - now. It'll come down."
When? Here's a thread from 2003 in which lot's of people are complaining about the price.
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.woodworking/browse_thread/thread/5aa459fb706ed39/4292c0b26d0e5df4?q=sawstop&lnk=nl &
I believe the device hit the market right around then. Since that time, to my knowledge not one manuafacturer has adopted (and paid for) the technology.
As long as only one company controls the patent, then I don't see why the price would come down.

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Because the inventor is either a smart businessman, or he has good people running it. He's been trying to squeeze the market into buying them at his price by trying to get legislation passed. With most inventions there's essentially zero chance that that will happen, but with something that has such great whiz bang demonstrations, and with something that is obviously so much safer, it's probably just a question of time. It's a game of chicken.
I didn't say the price would come down overnight, but it will, and I don't think it will be all that much longer. More money is made selling lots of units at a lower price than a few at an exorbitant price. The margin won't be as great, but the total income will be far more. The most likely scenario is he'll sell the company to a big manufacturer that is willing to take the risk and pay up front to get a jump on the competition.
R