The Alloy of Justice: An Entrepreneurial Allegory

By Douglas Katz and Gnu Lou (TM)

As an indepenent inventor, I have become well versed and supremely disappointed in the way that our country protects that patents and intellectual property of entrepreneurs or more accurately, how it neglects to do so. Yet the majority of our country thinks that patents are not only beneficial but useful for their intended purpose of commercializing an innovation. They currently are not, but when you try and explain the details of the Patent Trademark Office (PTO) and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), it gets difficult, so here is an allegory in a more compelling narrative. The best part is you can be part of the heroic effort by getting involved.

The Hidden Forge

In the Kingdom of Endeavor, innovation had once driven prosperity. But over time, the powerful merchants and alchemists of the Dark Guild discovered it was easier to stifle ideas than to compete with them. Progress slowed, the people suffered, and the Guild grew rich.

Amid this stifling control, one man defied the odds. Eldrin Thoughtbuild, a blacksmith with a mind for invention, worked tirelessly in his hidden forge. He had created something extraordinary: Endurium, a metal unlike anything the world had ever seen. Stronger than dragonbone, lighter than silk, and imbued with resilience, Endurium adapted to the will of its user. A plow crafted from it could carve through rocky soil with ease. Armor made from Endurium could withstand the fiercest blows.

But Eldrin’s vision wasn’t just for tools or weapons—it was for the people. He dreamed of a future where farmers, healers, and warriors alike could harness its power to build a better life.

To protect his creation, Eldrin invoked the ancient Patent Wards, magical sigils etched into every piece of Endurium. These wards had long safeguarded inventors, ensuring their rights were respected. For a time, the wards held, and Eldrin believed his work was safe.

Then the Guild found out.

The Dark Guild’s Scheme

The Dark Guild thrived on control. They ruled the Kingdom of Endeavor not with swords but with bureaucracy and dark magic, twisting every law and decree to their favor. Endurium, they realized, was a threat. A tool like that could empower the people and disrupt their monopoly on progress. They moved quickly, summoning the Void Council, a corrupted tribunal that decided the fate of inventions.

Eldrin was dragged before the Council, his pleas for fairness ignored. The Guild claimed that Endurium was “obvious,” a copy of lesser alloys, and the Council agreed without question. “Your invention is invalid,” the Council intoned, their voices devoid of mercy. “The Patent Wards protecting Endurium are null.”

The sigil protecting Endurium flickered and began to fade. Eldrin demanded a jury of his peers—farmers, knights, and healers who had benefited from his creation—but the Council only sneered. They had no interest in justice.

The Spark of Rebellion

The news spread quickly. The Patent Wards were broken, and the Guild’s enforcers were on their way to dismantle Eldrin’s forge. But the people of Endeavor didn’t sit quietly. Farmers who had used Eldrin’s tools to till their fields, knights who had survived battle with Endurium armor, and healers who had saved lives with Endurium blades—they all began to speak.

“The Guild wants to crush Eldrin,” they whispered in the markets and taverns. “If his work falls, what’s next? They’ll take everything we have.”

It wasn’t just about Endurium anymore. Eldrin’s fight became their fight. Across the kingdom, people gripped the tools and weapons he had made, their belief in his right to create growing stronger. That belief began to stir something deep in the kingdom’s magic. The Patent Wards, once tied only to sigils, now drew strength from the will of the people.

The Battle for Endurium

The Guild’s enforcers came at dawn, their void-forged armor gleaming black as they marched on Eldrin’s forge. At the heart of his ruined workshop, Eldrin stood alone, holding the last shard of Endurium in his hands. The sigil on its surface barely glowed, its magic almost extinguished.

As the enforcers closed in, a strange wind swept through the forge. From the fields and villages, the mountains and markets, the people of Endeavor rose. Farmers placed their hands on their plows, knights raised their Endurium shields, and healers whispered words of thanks over their blades. Their collective will surged through the land, reigniting the magic of the Patent Wards.

The shard in Eldrin’s hands blazed to life, brighter than the forge’s fire. The enforcers faltered, their void magic crumbling under the strength of the people’s belief. The Guild’s power shattered that day, its dark grip on the kingdom broken by the light of Endurium.

A New Dawn

With the Guild’s defeat, the kingdom began to heal. Eldrin’s forge was rebuilt, not as a hidden sanctuary but as a beacon of hope. The Patent Wards, once a fragile protection, were reforged stronger than ever, bolstered by the people’s will to protect their creators.

Eldrin Thoughtbuild’s name became a legend, not because he was the strongest or the wealthiest, but because he refused to give up. He had reminded the kingdom that innovation belongs to everyone—and that the power of the people can overcome even the darkest forces.

Epilogue: A Call to Action

In our world, the story of Endurium feels all too familiar. Today, inventors like Eldrin face their own Dark Guilds. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), much like the Void Council, invalidates patents with little regard for fairness. Inventors don’t even get their day in court—they’re forced into a system designed to favor corporations.

But just as the people of Endeavor rallied behind Eldrin, we too can protect our modern-day creators. By demanding reforms, transparency, and accountability, we can ensure that the tools of innovation are never silenced by greed.

The question is: will we rise? Will we stand with the inventors fighting to create a better future? If so, then we, too, can forge something stronger than steel: a world where ideas thrive and justice reigns. As I said, you can be heroic by helping restore the American Dream for independent inventors. An easy way is to check out usinventor.org where there are instructions and easy tools to help by making your support clear to our elected officials. If there is anything we need to make America great and keep its competitive edge, it is restoring the Constitutional rights to independent inventors which are currently being trampled upon and, in doing so, providing them much needed fairness, justice and self-determination.