The US military spent 20 years and millions of dollars searching for a more environmentally friendly - yet deadlier -bullet.
Musician-turned-ammo-maker PJ Marx said the government was stuck until he showed how it could be done.
An appeals court has, however, rejected the Florida man's claim, saying the government's final redesign of bullets used in the standard-issue M16 rifle and M4 carbine for US troops doesn't match the design in his patents. As a result, he won't collect the millions of dollars a lower court said he was entitled to.
Marx and the company he founded, Liberty Ammunition Inc, almost hit it rich. A judge with the US Court of Federal Claims had said they were entitled to $15.6 million in damages plus a 1.4-cent royalty payment on each of the more than 1 billion M855A1 and M80A1 bullets the government buys for the weapons used by most troops. Those royalties would have been paid until the patent expires in 2027.
Marx isn't your typical bullet designer. Before the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, he was a musician and inventor. He was best known in musical circles for his guitar pickup, a complicated device that sits under the strings and can affect the tone of the instrument. He also led a company that made vacuum-tube amplifiers and transducers.
Also an avid shooter, Marx told the government he was inspired by the 2001 attacks to "try to make a contribution to the war effort" and develop a higher-density bullet compatible with existing Army weapons. He founded Liberty Ammunition in 2005 and serves as its chief of research. The Bradenton, Florida, company promotes its "high performance lead-free ammunition."
In court filings, the government expressed incredulity that Marx could have come up with a workable design despite "no ammunition-specific experience or education." Liberty countered that it was a combination of Marx's knowledge of shooting and his inventive mind that made the difference.
"That's really the dream of every gun or firearms inventor - to have their invention chosen by the military as the newest standard," said Bennet Langlotz, a Dallas-based patent lawyer who specialises in firearms patents and isn't involved in the dispute.
The dispute has its origins in 1990s, when then-President Bill Clinton ordered the military to make bullets that didn't use lead, which could potentially poison the land and groundwater, especially around training ranges. Early plans to replace the lead with tungsten were rejected because of rising tungsten prices in the mid-2000s.
As researchers were working on that problem, another arose. Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan complained their ammunition was insufficiently lethal. Too often, rounds would simply pass through enemy fighters, leaving them able to return fire.
A total redesign was needed. The government set up a joint project with government contractor Alliant Techsystems, now Orbital ATK, and the US Army Research Laboratory. It also solicited help from the public, and Marx responded.
