[Rick TYler]

Originally Posted by Imadapocalypse

wait so do these patents mean that there will be no other robotics competitions other than FIRST? meaning other organizations like vex may be disbanded?

It's going to come down (as Jason suggests) to another competition meeting ALL the points in the patent, not just one or two. It's not the sort of patent that anyone is going to make money from, and might not even be enforceable. I doubt it threatens other robotics competitions, especially those that don't use the exact scoring methodology outlined in points 5 & 6. Since not even FIRST uses this scoring, I'm not sure what the point of this patent is.

Could you imagine the outrage in the world of FIRST teams and sponsors if FIRST tried to enforce this patent broadly on all youth robotics competitions? I don't think it would be pretty.

Sometimes patents are all about being able to brag that your technology is patented, and not about trying to protect the patent. This may be why Kamen and company followed through on this one.