"By April 1988, when Gould's use patent was approved, optically pumped amplifier patents covered 80% of the lasers made in the United States. The market for lasers had ballooned to more than $500 million per year. Suddenly, Gould was a multimillionaire."
Presumably, Gould had delivered a useful and valuable invention to the world and the patent sets him up to be compensated accordingly, if the premise holds.
Comments
Definitely worked well for some people:
"By April 1988, when Gould's use patent was approved, optically pumped amplifier patents covered 80% of the lasers made in the United States. The market for lasers had ballooned to more than $500 million per year. Suddenly, Gould was a multimillionaire."
http://electronicdesign.com/article/components/gordon-gould-...
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Presumably, Gould had delivered a useful and valuable invention to the world and the patent sets him up to be compensated accordingly, if the premise holds.