Current Patent Status
1) NXO has US Patent #9759900--this is the DOMINANT, generic, Blade Optics patent that covers ANY lens system that includes a wedge-shaped lens with a flat object side (first) surface and a reflective material positioned at the back (second) surface, and that has an apparatus for processing an image generated by the lens to reduce chromatic aberration. EVERYTHING they are doing with lens systems is covered by this patent, even though other, more specific patents are and will continue to be applied for. There is at least one "continuation" application filed on 11 July 2017 that is identical to the '900 patent, except that it has an even broader claim set (it doesn't specify the processor until one of the dependent (minor) claims). NXO also has a European design patent that, if I remember correctly, covers the ornamental appearance of the telescope prototype (I believe this is an unimportant patent).
2) We know from the 4 April 2017 news release that they filed a patent application specific to the Diamond Blade Optics system that is directed to "mobile devices." It will be dominated by the '900 patent and is intended to be specific to the mobile phone cameras and perhaps also the sports viewer. It has not published yet, so I cannot comment on its contents, but it should publish no later than the start of October 2018. I am checking almost every day and will report when I see it.
3) We know from the 7 June 2017 news release that the telephoto lens stack design for "mobile devices, including smart phones" was completed, that it "builds on" both Blade Optics and Diamond Blade Optics, and that they filed a patent application to cover the lens stack. This is yet another pending application that has not yet published, but should publish no later than the start of December 2018. Again, I am monitoring.
4) We know from the 29 June 2017 news release that there are a number of international applications filed that correspond to the Blade Optics '900 patent. I am monitoring the progress of that in Europe, which is just recently moving toward getting started on examination. We know that the International Search Report came back positive in every way. While almost every country purports to do some sort of further examination, I will be shocked if there is any new prior art that turns up to cause us any problems. So I expect that exceptionally broad claims like we already have in the US will be issuing in patents around the world. We should begin to see this over the next several months, playing out completely over the next few years.
5) We know from that same news release that "Spectrum is also seeking patent protections for the same technology in numerous other key international markets. Additionally, Spectrum has several other pending patent applications." That first quoted sentence refers to the Blade Optics patent applications I just talked about in (4) above. The second sentence means they have "several" other applications pending. I have discussed three of them above--the Blade Optics continuation, the Diamond Blade Optics, and the telephoto lens stack. So, there must be at least one other that I don't know about if NXO is being truthful and is being strict in its use of the word "several," which means "four or more."
6) Patents almost always take more than "months" to get--they usually take at least 18 months and often much longer. But, because the original applications were filed more than 2 years ago, we should be seeing at least some foreign patents coming out in the next several months.
7) Commercialization is in no way tied to timing of issuance of patents. A patent does NOT give you the right to market your invention--it only gives you the right to sue to stop others from making, using, or selling your invention. As long as a patent application has been filed on the technology (which it will have been, because to manufacture it you have to have designed it, which is enough to base an application on, and we assume NXO will be good about protecting all of its intellectual property), NXO will not wait for anything else relating to the patent system to begin commercializing its devices. Any such concurrent events will be merely coincidental, not correlated. Barstoolsage is correct on this.
GLTAL,
Jeff
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