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by adaml_623 4974 days ago
Smith says. "I can’t say what they are, but we’ve patented the hell out of it."

I'm curious as to whether anyone knows what's in the patents that means the coating is patented but still secret?

2 comments

Never mind I've figures it out from a patent covering the subject:

From https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=pts&hl=en&q=EP19...

Surface 12 (Figure 1) comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of a ceramic, an intermetallic, and a polymer. Suitable ceramic materials include inorganic oxides, carbides, nitrides, borides, and combinations thereof. Non-limiting examples of such ceramic materials include aluminum nitride, boron nitride, chromium nitride, silicon carbide, tin oxide, titania, titanium carbonitride, titanium nitride, titanium oxynitride, stibinite (SbS2), zirconia, hafnia, and combinations thereof. In certain embodiments, the surface comprises an intermetallic. Examples of suitable intermetallic materials include, but are not limited to, nickel aluminide, titanium aluminide, and combinations thereof. Polymer materials that may be used in surface 12 include, but are not limited to polytetrafluoroethylene, fluoroacrylate, fluoroeurathane, fluorosilicone, modified carbonate, silicones and combinations thereof. The material is selected based on the desired contact angle, the fabrication technique used, and the end-use application of the article.

Isn't the whole point of a patent so that you do say how you did it and what you used? Otherwise it would be a trade secret?
I think the the case here is that they applied for patents, rather than their patents having been accepted.