HN user
Want to see pointless job? go into a nice department store in Tokyo to buy a shirt (if, say, United Airlines lost all your good clothes on the way over-- just as a hypothetical).
the sheer number of people involved in greeting, seating and feting you is stunning.
then there's the five levels of distribution to get any kind of product to market...
Completely agree. the patents could be weak-- or killer good-- it's not up to us to figure that out.
But Nikola is clearly a real company. And they have the right to defend their IP.
The system for granting patents could well let some weak ones through-- but litigation will figure it out.
It's how the game is played. so, I don't understand the anti-Nikola guys. Let's face it, if it works out their approach has some huge advantages over the 4 megawatt-hour packs the Tesla Semi is going to require.
it's all good.
and, no, Nikola is not a "patent troll" in any understanding of the words. The Branch Elonians are only slowly coming to the realization that Tesla has no sustainable advantages-- other than brand. which does have cachet. not sure that helps in Class 8 trucks, though.
Yeah, try to get the Branch Elonians to admit that TSLA has to retire $1.9 Billion of debt in the next 12 months. They do. Oops.
Meanwhile the CEO is insulting the financial community that keeps him afloat. I keep hearing how smart he is, but... sometimes...
It's clearly not the proper use of "patent troll".
This is just the Tesla Branch Elonians extending their "the world is against our religion" into bizarre heights of delusion.
Nikola got patents granted. They are a real truck manufacturer, with real customers (including Budweiser's parent who just signed on. Big.), and don't remotely fit into the "patent troll" category.
After a while you just get tired of the All-Tesla-All-the-Time crowd complaining that other people are coming to the market-- probably with better management and more focus.