This is just so head-slappingly stupid on so many levels, I can’t even begin to describe the myriad ways.
According to the snippet, there is currently a satellite that experienced a launch failure. It’s currently up in the air, and needs a boost of some form to get into proper orbit. From the snippet:
The satellite’s owner, SES Americom, looked for a way to salvage the satellite, but ran into an unexpected hurdle; a Boeing patent on the lunar flyby process that would be used to correct the satellite’s orbit.
So, because Boeing has been putting crap up into space and had the legal team to make it a patentable process, SES Americom is now out a satellite. Let me re-iterate: the only reason this satellite could turn into space-junk is because Boeing owns a piece of paper in the United States Patent Office that lays claim to the method for saving this satellite.
(And yes, I had to re-read the title of the story twice, since my first read of the title said “planet”, not “patent”).
I can’t think of a more clear example on why method patents are completely wrong, and should be abolished.