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Why Geim Never Patented Graphene

Posted by Soulskill on from the makes-perfect-sense dept.

gbrumfiel writes "As we discussed on Tuesday, Andre Geim won this year's Nobel prize in physics for graphene, but he never patented it. In an interview with Nature News, he explains why: 'We considered patenting; we prepared a patent and it was nearly filed. Then I had an interaction with a big, multinational electronics company. I approached a guy at a conference and said, "We've got this patent coming up, would you be interested in sponsoring it over the years?" It's quite expensive to keep a patent alive for 20 years. The guy told me, "We are looking at graphene, and it might have a future in the long term. If after ten years we find it's really as good as it promises, we will put a hundred patent lawyers on it to write a hundred patents a day, and you will spend the rest of your life, and the gross domestic product of your little island, suing us." That's a direct quote.'"

15 of 325 comments (clear)

  1. But if he doesn't patent it... by Narcocide · · Score: 3, Funny

    Can't they just patent it anyway, and sue him instead?

    1. Re:But if he doesn't patent it... by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 4, Funny

      Simply ignore the patents ... And if any laywer appeared at the door of your company trying to extort you because of such patents, return then to his employer by mail. Just the head.

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    2. Re:But if he doesn't patent it... by ChipMonk · · Score: 4, Funny

      using XML

    3. Re:But if he doesn't patent it... by Jonah+Hex · · Score: 2, Funny

      Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!

      --
      Horror & SciFi Erotic Nudes
    4. Re:But if he doesn't patent it... by Hal_Porter · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hey, I work in commercial biotech research! Are you calling me aggressive?

      You wanna come over and say that, buddy?

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
    5. Re:But if he doesn't patent it... by Kvasio · · Score: 5, Funny

      mod parent +1, aggressive

    6. Re:But if he doesn't patent it... by Ihmhi · · Score: 3, Funny

      Mod Parent "+1, Like, You're a Cool Guy Man, And... And And I Like What You Said Dude, It Reached Me. Really Reached Me."

      --
      Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
  2. One word: libel by dazedNconfuzed · · Score: 3, Funny

    Do that, and he'll spend the rest of his life and gross income fighting interminable libel suits.

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    Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
    1. Re:One word: libel by Intron · · Score: 4, Funny

      It isn't libel if what he said is true. If the other guy did indeed say that.

      Didn't you read the article? They have 100 lawyers sitting around waiting for something to do.

      --
      Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
  3. What island are they referring to? by jeffmeden · · Score: 3, Funny

    I don't get it, he is Russian born and works in Manchester, England. Are they saying $2.2 trillion (nominal GDP of England in 2006) isn't enough to win a patent war? My god, if that's the case, then what is?

    1. Re:What island are they referring to? by jd · · Score: 2, Funny

      Maybe the GP has discovered an underground channel linking the east and west coasts far beneath Hadrian's Wall, with a tributary running down to the Severn.

      --
      It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
    2. Re:What island are they referring to? by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Funny

      you can for sure win a patent war.

      You just use weapons the other size will not expect.

      If the entire other side ended up in a horrible accident, you suddenly win.

      Just saying.... I have a hundred "associates" just sitting around waiting to do something.... Am I making my self clear? capisce?

      I would hate for an unfortunate circumstance to happen, causing something to happen... Right Vito?

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  4. I'm confused. by masterwit · · Score: 3, Funny

    It also has the largest surface-to-weight ratio: with one gram of graphene you can cover several football pitches (in Manchester, you know, we measure surface area in football pitches).

    Can someone put this in terms of American Football fields please? Or perhaps school buses will work...thanks.

    --
    We should start a new Slashdot and return control to the geeks. It actually wouldn't be that hard to get some users to
  5. Re:Patents help the little guy by ChrisMP1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    You are very good at detecting sarcasm. Really. You are.

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    <sig>&nbsp;</sig>
  6. Re:Patents help the little guy by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 2, Funny

    You are very good at detecting sarcasm. Really. You are.

    What are you talking about? He missed it completely.