Comment by oldgradstudent
2 days ago
> Note how similar this is to the pulse oximeter, which was invented in Japan in 1972 and patented in the US in 2004.
How could an invention from 1972, which I assume was publically disclosed around that time, be patented in 2004?
Were the details kept secret for 32 years?
It's the same person in both patents, Takuo Aoyagi. You can register a patent in separate jurisdictions, because they're separate jurisdictions.
You can, but a patent is still limited to around 20 years. How can a 1972 invention be still be patented in 2004?
Because the USAnian companies kept lobbying to keep the Patent Office working that way.
34 replies →
See discussion on first-to-file: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43125638
The "clock" does not start when the invention happens, which is anyway a very hard thing to pin down. But as you say, it creates very counter intuitive results.
1. That’s not how first-to-file works. It’s a sadly common misunderstanding.
2. This case was from way before first-to-file even went into effect anyway.
Because the patent system is broken
It must have been different in some key way, or the 1972 invention lacked several key improvements that the 2004 patent claimed.
I haven’t looked at the patent documents, but I’d bet money it’s not the same. The later US patent is probably for an improvement on the original device.