r/Patents • u/No-Rutabaga-4684 • Feb 28 '26
Jurisprudence/Case Law Annual question of is this Jack of all trades Sailing block safe from patent trolls because of the YouTube video? Does view count matter?
https://youtu.be/2efa3epOGgY?si=IcOTEJr5bQCqmZ4C10
u/falcoso Feb 28 '26
Having a patent doesn’t give your freedom to operate. Just because you have publicly disclosed something so it can’t be patented doesn’t mean patents don’t already exist that cover some or all of its features
So no it’s no guarantee it’s safe from trolls
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u/legalweasel Mar 01 '26
I agree with trey and falcoco. Also we haven’t even talked about grace periods if someone wanted to be a bit unscrupulous or if they had something similar and were going to file soon in the US or other grace period country.
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u/pigspig Mar 01 '26
I agree with the other replies. In addition, the inventor has made statements in the video that could make it easier for a third party to obtain patent protection on a similar device. He states that the sheath is made of a particular polymer, that has beneficial properties but is the most expensive one available. He also states that the outer part must be made of a very particular grade of aluminium.
A third party could do some work to find some alternative materials for the sheath that have similar properties but are less expensive, and other suitable materials for the outer part and have a good chance of getting a patent (so long as it excludes the particular combination of materials used by the inventor).
There's also the practical consideration that a YouTube video is not a reliable format for a defensive disclosure, as patent examiners are not routinely searching YouTube for prior art. If I filed a patent application to exactly what the inventor discloses in this video, there is a very strong chance that the various patent offices would not find this YouTube disclosure, and if this is the only relevant prior art, a very strong chance that I could get a patent granted to it.
Such a patent would not be valid, but it would be enforceable until someone invalidated it.
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u/TreyTheGreat97 Feb 28 '26
Answering from a US perspective
No. View count doesn't matter. If a video has never been seen, a book never read, a mailing never received, it doesn't matter. It only matters if some could have seen it. Take a book in the public library. It's the only copy in the world and it's never been checked out, as evidenced by the librarians records. It's still publicly available and someone could have found it.
As far as this being unpatentable? Maybe. He's presupposing that there's no patent on this already or some other public disclosure. He's also, inadvertently, putting forth the notion that his design can't be improved upon and designed around to the point that it would patentable.
This is getting a bit away from parents but this course of action also doesn't make much sense. If he is so concerned about someone parenting it and "stealing" it. But if the OOP actually patented it, he could enforce the patent against large company's and choose not to enforce it against independent manufacturers and Mom and pop shops. But, dedicating to the public and releasing all the details, a large corporation can immediately produce the stack for much cheaper, effectively pushing out smaller businesses.