I don't mean that sarcastically. The patent is not on the existence of a particular trajectory, nor on a basic law of physics. It's a patent on a process to move a spacecraft from one orbit to another by firing rockets at precise times.
I can't think of a reason why this would be more invalid than a "composition of matter" patent that is just a list of particular alloys of steel with special properties: after all, it's a law of physics that 18-8 steel has special properties, which was patented [1]. The patent was issued just on listing a mix of iron, 18% chromium, and 8% nickel. Many other special steel blends have been patented [2], even though their specialness is a function of natural properties of materials.
I'm not saying it's a good thing that this is patentable, but it's very far from "obvious" that it's not.
Well, the GSM patents [1] are a series of patents on particular ways to send wireless signals between handsets and base stations. I'm pretty sure that wireless radio is the only way to send signals from a cell phone, but that hasn't invalidated patents on particular methods of doing so.
Again, I'm not saying it's a good thing that this is patentable, but it's not "obvious" that it's not patentable if it's possible to patent (several times over) various ways of sending wireless signals from cell phones, or particular blends of nickel, chromium and iron.
Well, it's obviously invalid because no space trajectory is in the jurisdiction of any nation that grants patents. Space trajectories are, after all, located in space.
The machines and people sending the commands are on in the U.S. Even if they weren't, it doesn't make the patent invalid, it would just be a defense to infringement in this particular case.
I don't mean that sarcastically. The patent is not on the existence of a particular trajectory, nor on a basic law of physics. It's a patent on a process to move a spacecraft from one orbit to another by firing rockets at precise times.
I can't think of a reason why this would be more invalid than a "composition of matter" patent that is just a list of particular alloys of steel with special properties: after all, it's a law of physics that 18-8 steel has special properties, which was patented [1]. The patent was issued just on listing a mix of iron, 18% chromium, and 8% nickel. Many other special steel blends have been patented [2], even though their specialness is a function of natural properties of materials.
I'm not saying it's a good thing that this is patentable, but it's very far from "obvious" that it's not.
[1] http://www.estainlesssteel.com/historyofstainlesssteel.shtml [2] At random: http://www.google.com/patents?id=L0YhAAAAEBAJ&printsec=a...