There was some discussion about patents in other threads, and it brought up an interesting thought.
Do Stern/JJP have any IP generation teams, outside of the regular design and engineering teams? I would have thought that having a dedicated IP team that could generate some patentable tech for them would be a given, but apparently not?
Thoughts?
PS: Disclaimer, IP gen is a big part of my job, so it's a partially self serving question. 
Most IP in pinball, if we're talking patents here, is really worthless. None of the patents that were ever filed were truly successful in the sense of locking the competition out of "better" technology. I only consider the P2K patents to be the most truly successful pinball patents filed.
I think what it boils down to is that there is never going to be any one patent (besides perhaps P2K - see above) that a company can file that will make any particular game "more fun" than another.
And that's what pinball boils down to. Fun. A patented backbox latch has no more "fun" value than another. A patented RGB GI lighting system (JJP) isn't going to make WOZ more "fun". Makes it look cooler, but not more fun. And it doesn't prevent another company from putting out a game that's equally (if not more) fun and successful.
Gomez admitted that even after all these years, there is no formula for "fun". It's still trial and error. Ultimately it's how fun a game is that keeps these guys in business. Fun = sales. Not their patent portfolio.
Just my take on it.
Tony
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