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The King and IP
Notes & Quotes
The King and IP
His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand is a man of many talents. An accomplished jazz saxophonist and enthusiastic radio ham, he is also the holder of three Thai patents.
The first was awarded for his ingenious contraption for oxygenating polluted water - a major health hazard within Thailand. During the 1980s, the King had addressed the problem by promoting the use of two simple techniques: ‘good water chases bad water’, which diverted fresh water to dilute tainted supplies, and ‘evil overcomes evil’, where water hyacinth and assorted aquatic plants were grown to filter waste.
Neither, though, was a match for the Chaipattana Low Speed Surface Aerator. Loosely based on a traditional luk or water-wheel, the device won King Bhumibol the ‘Best Inventor’ award at the prestigious Brussels Eureka show in 2000. According to an official website, the King, concerned about his subjects’ lackadaisical attitude to intellectual property registration, decided to patent the aerator to provide them with a positive example.
His Majesty’s second patent is for a cost-saving fuel based on a combination of regular diesel and palm oil. Unlike ethanol based alternatives, the fluid can be used in trucks and other machines without their engines requiring modification. The monarch’s formula was expected to save the country hundreds of millions of Baht per annum.
The third patent is the fruit of the King’s most grandiose project to date: cracking the age-old puzzle of how to control the weather. His ‘supersandwich’ rain-making technique relies on aircraft simultaneously ‘seeding’ clouds at different altitudes/ temperatures with chemicals known to trigger precipitation. King Buhmibol’s technique is believed to direct rain to specific targets more efficiently than any previous rain-generating method. The 75 year-old ruler was presented with the patent at his seaside palace in Hua Hin on 2 June 2003.
A king who can rain out your picnic – no wonder his subjects treat him with reverence.
His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand is a man of many talents. An accomplished jazz saxophonist and enthusiastic radio ham, he is also the holder of three Thai patents.
The first was awarded for his ingenious contraption for oxygenating polluted water - a major health hazard within Thailand. During the 1980s, the King had addressed the problem by promoting the use of two simple techniques: ‘good water chases bad water’, which diverted fresh water to dilute tainted supplies, and ‘evil overcomes evil’, where water hyacinth and assorted aquatic plants were grown to filter waste.
Neither, though, was a match for the Chaipattana Low Speed Surface Aerator. Loosely based on a traditional luk or water-wheel, the device won King Bhumibol the ‘Best Inventor’ award at the prestigious Brussels Eureka show in 2000. According to an official website, the King, concerned about his subjects’ lackadaisical attitude to intellectual property registration, decided to patent the aerator to provide them with a positive example.
His Majesty’s second patent is for a cost-saving fuel based on a combination of regular diesel and palm oil. Unlike ethanol based alternatives, the fluid can be used in trucks and other machines without their engines requiring modification. The monarch’s formula was expected to save the country hundreds of millions of Baht per annum.
The third patent is the fruit of the King’s most grandiose project to date: cracking the age-old puzzle of how to control the weather. His ‘supersandwich’ rain-making technique relies on aircraft simultaneously ‘seeding’ clouds at different altitudes/ temperatures with chemicals known to trigger precipitation. King Buhmibol’s technique is believed to direct rain to specific targets more efficiently than any previous rain-generating method. The 75 year-old ruler was presented with the patent at his seaside palace in Hua Hin on 2 June 2003.
A king who can rain out your picnic – no wonder his subjects treat him with reverence.
