...it's so obvious it shouldn't be patentable; the type of drivetrain shouldn't mae a difference.
The US patent office has changed their MO in recent years. They used to verify that an idea was new and unique before granting the patents, but that requires a huge amount of research and expense on the taxpayer's dime. Far more patents are filed these days than when the patent office was established, and far more of them are technological in nature than ever before.
Nowadays they're just granting patents after the filer does a quick search for prior art, and if someone claims they did it first, they have to fight it out in the courts to invalidate/defend the patent. It's not ideal, but at least it is cheaper for the taxpayer. The court costs are paid by the parties trying to make money on the idea.
Offtopic, but this is a topic I'm very familiar with -- used to be in charge of patents at various tech companies.
It's far from recent, and it's not only in the US; the entire patent system is completely broken, and many examiners are incompetent and completely unfamiliar with the fields they're supposed to be able to research. The vast majority of patent applications I see are completely trivial.
Challenging a granted patent is very, very difficult, and takes years if not decades. In the meantime, affected parties need to make working assumptions with very significant business implications which are hard if not impossible to change afterwards.
If the patent office can't do its basic function, there's really no protection for inventors without deep pockets.
It's so broken that if I could, I'd dismantle the entire IP system at this point -- it actively hinders innovation.
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Topic: New BMW patent - speculated Zero SR/F & Energica Ego - competitor (Read 838 times)