>they may no longer have protection against a patent filed by someone else that they (SpaceX) invented first //
They only had a very limited protection before. First year of use, only shown in public in certified trade shows IIRC.
This is how patents work, they require publication to enrich the knowledge pool and the return for that publication is time-limited government granted monopoly.
If SpaceX can demonstrate prior use then no later filed patent can, if the law is correctly applied, prevent their continued working of that specific invention.
The point is to put pressure on inventors to file, that's one of the two major purposes of the patent system (the other being to ensure due compensation of inventors).
They only had a very limited protection before. First year of use, only shown in public in certified trade shows IIRC.
This is how patents work, they require publication to enrich the knowledge pool and the return for that publication is time-limited government granted monopoly.
If SpaceX can demonstrate prior use then no later filed patent can, if the law is correctly applied, prevent their continued working of that specific invention.
The point is to put pressure on inventors to file, that's one of the two major purposes of the patent system (the other being to ensure due compensation of inventors).