He and a colleague, Michael J. Meurer, are readying a book on the topic, "Do Patents Work?," due in 2008.
None of the three patents worked when being strictly implemented as described.
Pharmaceutical patents work because they function like property, in the sense that they have clear boundaries.
The device, now awaiting a patent, works by applying heat to the amputee's joint socket through thermal biofeedback.
Researchers have for years devoted creative energy to figuring out patent "work-arounds" to avoid penalties from patent holders.
"In certain areas having a science background is hugely helpful, such as intellectual property and patent work, because the nature of the work is particularly complex".
He lived by the same ascetic code, scorning professors who got rich by patenting work they'd developed on government grants.
After years of research and development, engineering and patent work, the brothers took their razors to the military in 2002 because they had heard that soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan were dry shaving.
Although some models were crudely built by their inventors, many were made in Washington by about a dozen model-making shops for whom patent work had become a cottage industry.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, the nonprofit agency that runs the corn and wheat banks here, surprised some supporters by putting into place this month its own policy to patent work that was traditionally made available to everyone.
