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Letter: Prophetic patent

Published 20 April 2005

From John Davies

You report that Sony have applied for a patent for a device that stimulates the brain by ultrasound (9 April, p 10). The Sony spokesperson is quoted as saying: “This particular patent was a prophetic invention.” There used to be a word in the computing industry for those types of invention – vapourware.

Lancaster, UK

Issue no. 2496 published 23 April 2005

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