Google has filed a patent for what sounds like a bionic eye

venturebeat.com

4 pointsjoeyspn4 comments

On the risk of reviving the standard discussion present on patebt topics, but as a layperson, I would really like to know:

According to the article, Google has given a (quite detailed) description for a sort of implanted contact lens. However, they have neither built a working prototype, nor indicated that they plan to build one in one future. It's also not clear to me if the patent implies this being feasible at all. (I may be wrong though).

So then what work effort this patent is actually protecting. Also would this patent have actual consequences for the (hypothetical) research field of smart eye implants?

"Enablement" is the requirement that a patent must disclose the claimed invention in sufficient detail to allow someone "skilled in the art" to build it.

I would assume for anything truly novel if you haven't built it then you can't know if your description is sufficient to actually build it... In which case I guess the patent is probably more a PR stunt than anything else.

That makes sense, however shouldn't patent applications like this be rejected then?

We changed the baity title to the admirably less baity first sentence.

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