As always, there's a bright side: all patents are public, so while
you can't legally make profit from the patent, you can always build
the device for your own use. I wonder if developing and publishing
a GNU design from such a patent would be punishable by law...
Also, this tactic essentially means giving the technology away to
about half of all the world's countries: the ones that don't enforce
or care about patent laws. You're going to go after that
government-backed company in China that's making money off your
patent? Yeah, right. Ask Microsoft for advice. :)
Regards,
--dv