Planetary Resources Development Corp. Awarded U.S. Patent No. 9,266,627 for Asteroid Mining Process

US Patent and Trademark Office ^ | February 23, 2016 | Eeric Anderson, etal

[CMB_polarization]

"An embodiment of the present application relates to a method of prospecting asteroids for mining, comprising: (a) launching at least one spacecraft, the spacecraft including a space telescope; (b) examining a plurality of asteroids using the space telescope to gather scientific data for asteroid characterization and cataloguing; and (c) selecting one or more asteroids to mine from the plurality of asteroids examined by the space telescope and stored within the catalogue.

Another embodiment of the present application relates to a system for prospecting asteroids for mining, comprising: (a) at least one spacecraft; and (b) a space telescope mounted on the at least one spacecraft, the telescope adapted to locate, identify, and/or characterize a plurality of asteroids."

[DannyTN]

My patent request to mine black holes seems to have dissappeared never to be seen again.

[CMB_polarization]

I notice they did not mention black holes in their patent - you can proceed without infringement.

[DannyTN]

I think I may have underestimated the gravity of the situation.

[rellimpank]

—I think I’ll wait to invest in this one til after that 26000 mile elevator to a stationary space station is operating—energy costs for off-earth mining are out of this world-—(smirk)

[moovova]

I have some pull in that office, should you need the help.

[ifinnegan]

Good post.

Thanks.

[CMB_polarization]

Notice they didn’t include Earth’s moon, other planets, moons of other planet (examples: Phobos, Deimos), and dwarf planets (example: Ceres). Those are still up for grabs.

[Da Bilge Troll]

What are their plans to execute this idea before the patent expires?

[rellimpank]

—the ambiguity about what Pluto really is will no doubt “chill” exploration there also until legal issues are resolved—

[CMB_polarization]

Good question - I’ll check later - http://www.uspto.gov/patent/laws-and-regulations/patent-term-calculator#heading-1

[HeartlandOfAmerica]

I wanna buy stock. Not that I could afford to. It’s gonna be ungodly expensive.

[jmcenanly]

This may read like annual report boilerplate, but here is their plan.

[Moltke]

Doesn't matter - for the duration of the patent they can prevent others from doing so. That's what a patent conveys.