I know patents have been issued in both Europe and Asia with the words Cold Fusion in them, that describe the cold fusion process, or some aspect of it.
I am no physician, but do follow cutting edge science well enough to say with confidence that there is no cold fusion yet. Nobody has been able to produce energy through fusion at near-room temperatures.
I don't know what US patent laws are like, but I know that generally you can apply for a patent even when you don't know the process you are describing will work. You can just be marking the territory, as someone who has thought about it first, so you can claim royalties in the remote case that the method you describe is ever used.
Sounds to me, that is what you are talking about "patents issues with the words 'Cold Fusion' in them". That means zip, of course, as far as how far ahead humanity is in discovery of this cold fusion method of energy generation.
It's kind of like alchemy. We THINK it should be possible to do. We keep mixing stuff to try to make it work. Some of the brighter cookies among us might even be applying for patents for if it works with this cathode and that solution. But the bitter fact remains that we don't know how to do it, or even if it is at all possible.
If the DOE decides that there is some legitimacy to the cold fusion claims and states that it warrants further research, it could force other agencies like the USPTO to change their policy as well
So you think some state agency's negative attitude to cold fusion theory is keeping scientists from working on the idea?
I doubt that very much. Any physicist with half a brain knows what a wonderful source of energy cold fusion would be. Whoever discovers it will have fame, glory, and more money than the top ten richest people of earth combined. Add to that the landmark scientific curiousity of these people. Do you think they would abandon cold fusion research just because some state agency put it down?
The harsh truth is that no matter how much we would like cold fusion to work, we just haven't found a way to make it work yet. There is no conspiracy here. No state is suppressing cold fusion research, which would be impossible anyway in the age of the internet. (Haven't you watched "The Saint"? :-) |
