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What happens to the IP when this happens? If the product works but wasn't supported by the right company how does it not get picked up by someone more competent?

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You wait 20 years, then work on it once the patents have expired. This happens to lots of technologies, which aren't properly license while under patent protection, then take off once the protection expires.

Probably the most well known is animated GIFs, which had some popularity in early web pages, but quickly died off, then had a huge upsurge after the patent expired in the 2000's, when anyone could add animated GIF outputs to any program or web service, without licensing.

I would imagine the IP was sold, especially if there was bankruptcy.

I think the question was why whoever picked it up didn’t do anything with it, which points towards it not just being an issue of incompetence, but maybe an underlying issue of the technology.

Or a commercial blood bank bought it. Since this was based on cow hemoglobin and thus a thread to their business model.

Or a patent troll, who are now busy working out how they can sue the Japanese scientists.

It's super common for UP to be sold for $1 to someone who has no intention to use it, just to have a larger defensive IP portfolio.

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