Patent pending?

[InclinedPlane]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...:X:RTQ:US:1123

How is this worthy of a patent? All I see is a fostex driver on OB attached to a ported box.

[SY]

The auctioner, Eric Alexander, has two patent apps that I can find, both relating to horn-loading. There may be another application that hasn't reached publication date (or another one I just didn't find) which would more obviously relate to this.

In any event, the claims of the patent app will tell you what makes this "worthy" of a patent. If he can convince an examiner that the invention is novel and non-obvious, he can get the patent awarded.

An awarded patent is presumed valid in litigation, but that doesn't mean that it IS valid; patents can be and sometimes are overturned in litigation or re-examination. Nor does the existence of an application mean that a patent will follow. Nor does the award of a patent give the inventor any rights beyond permission to pay a lawyer a million dollars to sue someone. Personally, I can't imagine why someone would bother to patent items that have very limited commercial value except as a vanity matter or for marketing purposes.

[InclinedPlane]

Interesting info. I suspect you are right about vanity and marketing. Reminds me of Bose.

[SY]

Bose is a bit of a different story. In their case, the products are mass market, not niche. They also have the resources to use (some say abuse) their patent position to provide a barrier to competition. And because the manufacture is (AFAIK) outsourced, they need patent protection to fight counterfeiting.

You could take every commercial single-driver system made in the past decade, multiply the numbers by 10, and I'll bet Bose cranks out more stuff in a day than that.

[MJK]

Originally posted by InclinedPlane
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...:X:RTQ:US:1123

How is this worthy of a patent? All I see is a fostex driver on OB attached to a ported box.

Obviously an OB and a BR box are not patent material. But looking at the design shown in the pictures, he is most likely claiming a unique system design where the combination of the two subsystems with the appropriate filters and connection polarity produces a benefit to the final performance. It is an interesting looking speaker design, I don't know if it has any advantages. It could probably be reverse engineered to learn more about any potential advantages.

[scott wurcer]

Originally posted by MJK


Obviously an OB and a BR box are not patent material. But looking at the design shown in the pictures, he is most likely claiming a unique system design where the combination of the two subsystems with the appropriate filters and connection polarity produces a benefit to the final performance. It is an interesting looking speaker design, I don't know if it has any advantages. It could probably be reverse engineered to learn more about any potential advantages.

If you check past auctions the same hubris goes with each design, "perfect" impulse response, etc.

[MJK]

Originally posted by scott wurcer


If you check past auctions the same hubris goes with each design, "perfect" impulse response, etc.

That may be, but he still has produced some interesting concepts which may or may not have merit. He is definitely thinking outside the box and producing speaker configurations I have not seen before, so I have to give him points for creativity.

[GM]

Originally posted by InclinedPlane

How is this worthy of a patent?

What was once old is yet new again.......... Do a patent search of James F. Novak and I believe you'll find a compact stereo system utilizing this loading scheme from back when stereo mains combined with a single electrically summed 'sub' system was the 'rage' in console design, so yes, worthy in the sense of resurrecting a defunct one.

GM

[InclinedPlane]

I don't think he has any original ideas. The partial dipole is already sold by Alon, and is not a new concept. He has an open baffle sub which isn't a new idea and a bessel array which is a borrowed design. He has a monitor with an aluminum cabinet which isn't unique.

I'm sure the stuff is great sounding and worth the money. I'm just annoyed with the patent attempts for existing ideas and 'hubris'. Maybe if I knew nothing about audio I'd be quite taken with his 'technology'.

[GM]

Originally posted by MJK

.......... so I have to give him points for creativity.

I don't (see above), especially since one has to wonder how his MLTL designs were arrived at.........

GM