How can they patent an idea everyone's already had before? | Hacker News

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		philip142au on Aug 18, 2015 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: US Patent 9085897: Space elevator How can they patent an idea everyone's already had before?

Udo on Aug 18, 2015 [–]

It's not what we would think of as a "space elevator", it's an inflatable tower 20km high with a landing strip on top.

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