On Sep 19, 12:10*pm, Mark wrote:
On Sep 19, 10:36*am, a wrote:
*So you have this battery technology and it's well

protected by patents and/or trade secrets.

I heard patents weren't safe if you have something
the corporate world wants. I know there is patent
infringement insurance, but they could drag it out
for decades. Also, China is stealing everything.

---
Mark
The patents I hold, which are not for anything as significant as this
potential application, protected the invention as intended. More to
the point, if the technology is not able to be protected, one would be
foolish to have as its initial application something that would take
years to earn a reasonable return. We follow a fairly simple minded
rule, taking into account market uncertainties which means heavily
discounting future returns, we apply our technologies to the best
projected present value, and that usually means what is closest to
earning money. In the battery technology case, if it was in my shop,
that means form-fit-function replacements for an existing market. If I
was in the battery business and my product manager suggested our
initial application be as the primary power source for airplanes, he
would have to have a compelling fact based argument, or I'd question
his (or her, but if it was promoting general aviation applications it
would probably be a guy) judgment.

The point is, look to immediate applications if you want to see if a
technology has the legs to run in this market. I would love to have as
competitors executives who use competing technologies to chase blue
sky applications (pun intended although I like actual IMC better) ,
unfortunately they are as least as insightful as I am, and don't do
things like that.