I followed the Cold Fusion issue for many years.
I will only note that the Japanese--no fools--continued to issue patents in the field, and still do so to this very day.
--Boris
You may recall that the USPTO did issue a few patents accidentally to Dr. James Patterson for his innovative bead cathode flow-type cold fusion devices. Patterson had received so many non-cold fusion patents that his patent examiner just pass them along. There has been at least one physics doctorate awarded for cold fusion research at Portland State University, Oregon (Dr. John Dash's student). Recent work from Dennis Letts is very interesting (
http://lenr-canr.org/acrobat/LettsDlaserstimua.pdf) With due respect, this is hardly a forum to establishing validity of the claims of scientists.
Some of the more impressive scientists, IMO are Italian and Russian, but the political issues surrounding establishing credibility of the evidence still dominate. It is a sad fact in this day and age that simple and accepted validation of simple and very important set of experimental results cannot seem to occur. It is easier and more gratifying to most to naysay than to investigate and consider, and suspend judgement, or apply it wisely.