Savannah ~ WD40 was ever patented…and for the reasons you mentioned. Over the past 50 years, competitors and curious cats have tried to uncover the trade secrets…and in more recent years, with cool tools like mass spectroscopy and gas chromatography, they have nailed down the ingredients. I’m sure these have been published in the past year or so – - not by WD40 executives, but by the “cats.”

To answer your question, any of these copycats who would try to patent the uncovered secrets of water displacement lubricant would have to do the following: (1) swear they invented it, rather than uncovered the secret formula…and (2) explain to the Patent Office why theirs is different from the 50 year old stuff analyzed in the lab reports.

That’s not to say, the copycats can’t take the old formula and brew their own batches. They can…and they do, and some actually sell the rip-off substance in simulated WD40 cans. I understand WD40 Co. recently redesigned their cans to fight the counterfeiters.

By the way…besides loosening rusty nuts and quieting squeaky hinges, try WD40 for removing grease splats, Silly Putty gunk in carpets, crayon marks on walls, sticky merchandise labels, bumper stickers. I’m hoping for a medicinal version for old joints.

you can detangle a horses tail with it and i’ve heard of people catching the big one by spraying it on fishing lures…

Savannah

it would go to the first to invent in any given situation . with WD -40 being around for years they would win hands down