“Perpetual motion machines are back, but then, they never really went away. Set one going, and by definition it will still be running whenever you next look at it—if you can find it, that is, since no self-respecting perpetual motion machine would remain in the same place for ever. One which is unlikely to hang around for long is US patent 6,960,975 (Volfson). Modestly or prudently concealed behind the uninformative title of a ‘Space vehicle propelled by the pressure of inflationary vacuum state’, this patent 1 describes and claims a space vehicle provided with a superconductive ‘anti-gravity shield’ which distorts the local space-time continuum, thereby tapping into an effectively infinite source of energy for propulsion, and accelerating the vehicle, its inventor, and up to two other occupants to within a fraction of the local speed of light, without requiring a conventional engine, or apparently consuming any fuel. I wonder if the Examiner wishes he was on board.”
Christopher Wadlow, Patents for perpetual motion machines, Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, Volume 2, Issue 3 (2007), Pages 136–144, https://doi.org/10.1093/jiplp/jpl242 (open access)
"[T 5/86] seems to discourage the Article 52 approach, even in a case to which it obviously applied, and I still cannot understand why."
Reader X wrote: One thing is worth noting when it comes to perpetual motion machines: such applications are relatively rarely refused under Art 83 or Art 57, but much more frequently under Art 123(2). As soon as the examining division states that the system is working against the laws of thermodynamics, the applicant feels obliged to add a lot of information into its application to show that it works nevertheless as announced.
ReplyDeletePrior art in this domain is not scarce, although not being enabling it does not help much.
It is an area in which lots of natural persons spend a lot of money, albeit in vain.
There are two IPC classes relating to perpetuum mobile, F03G7/10 for mechanical ones and H02K53/00 for electric ones.