This is unbelievable - he saved them millions, jet they were not willing to pay him the $4M he asked for.
Link to the patent: http://www.google.co.uk/patents?id=PhR3AAAAEBAJ&printsec...
It's trivial and should never have had a patent granted IMHO.
Comprises of a couple of spring loaded clamps to hold the wood, and a cover which hides the blade and collects the dust.
wow must have taken a whole afternoon to think up.
A whole afternoon in 2006, approximately 6,000 years after the birth of civilization and before anyone else had thought of it.
I'd bet there are countless examples of spring loaded clamps holding wood in cutters, and countless examples of blade hiding/dust removal boxes. This isn't rocket science.
I think you mean "... and before anyone else bothered to patent it and try and get people to pay royalties".
It did so magnificently, so they stole it like rotten little children.
I'm all in against "thought patents" like software and "business methods" where the inventor does nothing but think of a way to phrase a generic activity that many people already do, but the physical device patent is still a useful thing. In general it still works like the founders intended more often than it doesn't. Its friggin hard to build real things. This guy spent real time and effort perfecting this device that really does help people. He deserved better.
That IS the sole purpose of business.
It just so happens that when business does that, it has lots of other benefits - like making things people want, and giving people employment. But don't for a second loose sight of the goal: maximize revenue.
There are other entities, like non-profits, and co-ops, which may have other goals, but run like businesses.
Edit: I think I mis-read you. Was your comment a reply, or a complaint? If it was a reply, then I apologize for the downmod which I can not reverse. But if it's a complaint, then it's not a valid one - that has always been the goal of a business, our era is not in the slightest different.
I agree with Warren Buffet when he says there is more than enough money to be made ethically and without cutting corners.
Don't worry about the downmod ars, I got him.
In any case, while maximizing revenue is certainly the primary purpose of business as distinct from charitable work, it's not exclusive of other purposes which the founders may decide to pursue in parallel; it's just the easiest outcome to measure.
That's the cynical view of this age. If you study history, you'll find that business was considered something that was supposed to benefit society and business owners. Society, the social good, came first.