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[Patentstudent]

I would like to present a hypothetical case and hope that one or more experts are willing to add their comment that will help to educate me and possible others. 

Here is the case:
Letīs presume the method described below in italic does not exist yet, but I anticipate that all the required techniques will be available in say 5 years.

A method to let a car without a driver drive on the streets through any city without guidance by a magnetic system, but solely based on a plurality of cameras that send pictures and distances to a central processing unit which then adjusts the direction and the speed of the car as required.

Can I file a patent (I presume the answer is yes, since filing as such is always posible) for such a method that will not be feasible for the next 5 years and more importantly can I potentially get a patent that will have any value even though I am not involved in any research to help advance this technology? My sole aim would be to sell the patent at some point to a big player in that field, if and when I obtain the patent.
For the sake of completeness I have to mention that I am living in Europe. Possibly the first to file principle in Europe makes the case different than in the US. Hopefully you can also shed some light on that aspect.

Thank you very much in advance for your comments.

[DogDayPM 9er9er9er]

Your proposed patent application reminds me of one of my favorite Harris cartoons, where a professor and student are at a chalk board with equations, except at the second equation is says, "and then a miracle occurs".  Underneath is the caption with the professor's comment, "I think you should be more explicit here in step two". 

You're only entitled to a patent if you teach the public how to make the car you're trying to patent.  If you don't know how to make the car yet, you can't hold up your end of the bargain to teach the invention to the public. 

Also, there's the little problem that you haven't actually invented anything yet.  At this point you've got an idea or a concept.

And I don't think there's any difference here between US and EP laws in these regards.

http://benjchristensen.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/then-a-miracle-occurs-cartoon.png

[Patentstudent]

Thank you for the clear answer.

[JustAnotherExaminer]

For prior art, movies can bring about technology.  They're strictly design patents for the most part, with minimal disclosed functionality (compared to an actual utility application) but would work to make sure you don't get too too broad a protection.

Minority Report, for example.  Or star trek for hand held devices.

[JimIvey]

For prior art, movies can bring about technology.  They're strictly design patents for the most part, with minimal disclosed functionality (compared to an actual utility application) but would work to make sure you don't get too too broad a protection.

Minority Report, for example.  Or star trek for hand held devices.

Of course, the prior art movie has to be enabling.  I think there would be very little for which Star Trek would be enabling.  If the claim essentially recited "oh yeah, and the communication device is held in your hand", then, yes, perhaps Star Trek could be enabling and anticipatory.  Not much else there is enabling (as far as technology goes). 

It's worth noting that Star Trek is self-proclaimed fiction.   Generally, beyond perhaps providing motivation to combine (even that is tainted as it's fiction), prior art for one of ordinary skill in the art is best left to real technical publications.

Regards.

[DogDayPM 9er9er9er]

It's worth noting that Star Trek is self-proclaimed fiction.   Generally, beyond perhaps providing motivation to combine (even that is tainted as it's fiction), prior art for one of ordinary skill in the art is best left to real technical publications.

Back when written science fiction used to actually connect all the dots (as opposed to today's "then at step 2 a miracle happens" brand of sci-fi), I think you could find sufficient constructive reduction to practice for some later inventions.  I don't know if it's true, but Heinlein's description of a water mattress (used to offset acceleration forces in space flight) is rumored to have been used in a rejection against a patent application for the first actual commercial waterbed.

[Isaac]

Back when written science fiction used to actually connect all the dots (as opposed to today's "then at step 2 a miracle happens" brand of sci-fi), I think you could find sufficient constructive reduction to practice for some later inventions.

An enabling description for use as prior art possibly, but probably not a reduction to practice.

[MYK]

Back when written science fiction used to actually connect all the dots (as opposed to today's "then at step 2 a miracle happens" brand of sci-fi), I think you could find sufficient constructive reduction to practice for some later inventions.  I don't know if it's true, but Heinlein's description of a water mattress (used to offset acceleration forces in space flight) is rumored to have been used in a rejection against a patent application for the first actual commercial waterbed.

Quibble: Heinlein's waterbed was described/used in SIASL as a hospital bed (early in the book, when VMS was still being held by the government), not for space flight.

[DogDayPM 9er9er9er]

Quibble: Heinlein's waterbed was described/used in SIASL as a hospital bed (early in the book, when VMS was still being held by the government), not for space flight.

De-Quibble.  I recall VMS's hospital bed, but I think that was just cribbed from his decades-earlier descriptions in other stories (at least in Double Star, and I think in Beyond Horizons (not sure of titles), maybe others).

[MYK]

Quibble: Heinlein's waterbed was described/used in SIASL as a hospital bed (early in the book, when VMS was still being held by the government), not for space flight.

De-Quibble.  I recall VMS's hospital bed, but I think that was just cribbed from his decades-earlier descriptions in other stories (at least in Double Star, and I think in Beyond Horizons (not sure of titles), maybe others).

Beyond This Horizon.  Wiki confirms that he described the waterbed in both of those, and that both were earlier than SIASL, but doesn't give details;  I'll have to dig them up some time and try to find the references.  Thanks! 

ETA: weirdly enough, while fixing a couple of links on Wikipedia, it turns out that Heinlein also mentioned waterbeds in "Waldo" as an acceleration couch.  Given the very limited portrayal of spaceflight in Beyond This Horizon, and likewise in Double Star, I would tend to believe that "Waldo" is the source of your memory.

[DogDayPM 9er9er9er]

...Beyond This Horizon.  Wiki confirms that he described the waterbed in both of those, and that both were earlier than SIASL, but doesn't give details;  I'll have to dig them up some time and try to find the references.  Thanks!  ETA: weirdly enough, while fixing a couple of links on Wikipedia, it turns out that Heinlein also mentioned waterbeds in "Waldo" as an acceleration couch.  Given the very limited portrayal of spaceflight in Beyond This Horizon, and likewise in Double Star, I would tend to believe that "Waldo" is the source of your memory.

Thanks, I knew it was something like that.  They're all down in my basement "library"; just need to dig them out sometime and re-read.  Kind of like having a long chat with an old friend you haven't seen in years, rehashing "good old days" memories.