Inventor of Optical Storage Gets Little Reward

Thu Anon Coward writes "This poor guy invented optical storage (CDs, DVDs) and never made a dime. Another case of an idea before its time and cheating a man of his due. To quote the article, 'Consumers will spend billions this holiday season on CDs, DVDs and machines to record and play the ubiquitous silver discs. But the inventor of the underlying technology won't make a cent. Today, Russell does consulting from a lab in the basement of his Bellevue home to keep in the game and supplement a modest pension from Battelle.'"

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His Plight Awaits all Americans in China

[Anonymous Coward]

The plight of the inventor of optical storage awaits all Americans and their businesses in China. The Commerce Department has noted that Americans invent certain technologies and apply for a Chinese patent on them. The Chinese government stalls on the patent application; meanwhile, a Chinese company accesses the application and applies for a patent on the very same technology invented by an American. The Chinese government then grants the patent to the Chinese company and denies it to the American applicant.

The end result is that if the American company sells, in China, products invented by American engineers, then said American company must pay royalties to the Chinese thief ... er ... company. The American company and its employees will not see a dime resulting from their hardwork.

Fair? No. Chinese? Yes.