the las vegas - based inventor , who turns 76 in march , filed a lawsuit in january demanding action on what may be the oldest pending u.s. patent applications .
the patent - approval process takes 28.3 months on average .
gilbert p. hyatt , the las vegas - based inventor , who turns 76 in march , filed a lawsuit in january demanding action on what may be the oldest pending u.s. patent applications .
since the late 1990s , these high - tech multinationals have been stripping garage inventors of their rights under the guise of " patent reform , " doling out tens of millions of dollars to k street lobbyists and pushing congress to chip away at the system carefully laid out by thomas jefferson and his brethren .
ironically , many of these companies -- google , apple , microsoft , and others -- were themselves started in inventors ' garages , but now they live in constant fear that their business models will be disrupted by unpredictable technologies developed by little guys .
their modern - day counterparts are in danger .
” no one is able to put a price tag on what licensing those two washington has always loved a good war .
“ it ’s totally unconscionable , ” said brad wright , a patent lawyer with banner & witcoff in washington who specializes in computer - related applications and is n’t involved in hyatt ’s case .
for the last few years , a small handful of global high - tech corporations and their allies on capitol hill have been doing everything they can to put small inventors out of business .