Pardon the circlejerk interruption, and believe me I hate BMW just as much as the next person, but this is just a patent application. Like, if you realize your logo has the potential to be a screw head, why would you not patent it to prevent others from using the design.
It’s not made it into any cars, and so far as I’ve seen there are no plans. Even if it does I’d think it’d only be used in some customer-facing application; interior maybe, or decorative attachments in the engine like valve covers etc. Slightly asshole that you’d need a different tool, but not exactly the end of the world unless they actively prevented the tool from being made.
Used to be called patent trolling, but now that all the big corporations that own the politicians deciding patent law are doing it, it’s considered “prudent business practice”
IBM alone files more patents that they’ll never use (except for lawsuits in case someone else does something useful with something similar) in a year than most companies file IN TOTAL for several decades.
How? In this specific case it’s about brand identity, so I don’t think anyone else would make BMW-shaped screws. But in general, how is “I had this idea, I don’t want to make it, but want to stop others from making it” good?
how is “I had this idea, I don’t want to make it, but want to stop others from making it” good?
It isn’t under ANY circumstances and to think so without being the patent trolling asshole yourself is some Stockholm syndrome level simping for the overlords.
They will have the patent on the corresponding driver for the screw, and i doubt they will allow third party shops to purchase the drivers for anything resembling a reasonable price. Meaning that you will be forced to take the car to a BMW authorized mechanic. It’s taking away the consumer’s right to repair.
Pardon the circlejerk interruption, and believe me I hate BMW just as much as the next person, but this is just a patent application. Like, if you realize your logo has the potential to be a screw head, why would you not patent it to prevent others from using the design.
It’s not made it into any cars, and so far as I’ve seen there are no plans. Even if it does I’d think it’d only be used in some customer-facing application; interior maybe, or decorative attachments in the engine like valve covers etc. Slightly asshole that you’d need a different tool, but not exactly the end of the world unless they actively prevented the tool from being made.
My two cents
Patenting things you don’t have intention of actually doing, “just in case”, is just shit tbh.
Used to be called patent trolling, but now that all the big corporations that own the politicians deciding patent law are doing it, it’s considered “prudent business practice”
IBM alone files more patents that they’ll never use (except for lawsuits in case someone else does something useful with something similar) in a year than most companies file IN TOTAL for several decades.
It can prevent others from doing it, which can be a net good.
How? In this specific case it’s about brand identity, so I don’t think anyone else would make BMW-shaped screws. But in general, how is “I had this idea, I don’t want to make it, but want to stop others from making it” good?
It isn’t under ANY circumstances and to think so without being the patent trolling asshole yourself is some Stockholm syndrome level simping for the overlords.
They will have the patent on the corresponding driver for the screw, and i doubt they will allow third party shops to purchase the drivers for anything resembling a reasonable price. Meaning that you will be forced to take the car to a BMW authorized mechanic. It’s taking away the consumer’s right to repair.
It’s all conjecture at this point. The patent alone on the screw head I understand, because companies are obligated to protect their logo.
Naivete manifested in comment form.
Not to mention the odds of it having a better torque rating then any standard screw is low.
You would need a dedicated factory to build these at great expense for fancy looking screw heads.
the alleged application was critical fasteners that people shouldn’t be working with, like frame connections
of course, this is bullshit, because it’s been fine for the past half century, so why wouldn’t it be now?