A licensee for one of my patents received some research
funding and went to work. The project went unreported to me, and the money was
spent before a Report was written.
When it came due, I received a phone call. Without divulging much, I was asked
if I could provide some insights into the task. I had been working
independently and had something to report, a microscope that could be thrown
away if contaminated in service. The primary objective was a stamped plastic
hologram. My licensee was not interested. “Why would they have given me
$300,000 if all they need is a five cent piece of plastic?” he asked.
A disgruntled employee of the licensee resigned from this
company and in protest sent me a copy of the $300,000 Report. I immediately saw
that the optics were laid out backwards, and the purported microscope it was
supposed to represent could not have possibly worked. As I studied it further,
however, I realized that by placing the optics incorrectly for a microscope,
the instrument was a telescope. This led me to propose a new type of telescope
to NASA, and they have funded my research in that direction.
