'Killer Chip' Tracks Humans, Releases Poison
Jay Baggett
May 16, 2009
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You can run, but you cannot hide ... and if you try, one push of a button will cause a lethal poison to immediately begin flowing through your body.
That's the Orwellian future a Saudi inventor was seeking to bring to Germany until that nation's patent office announced last week it was rejecting his request to patent what has been dubbed the "Killer Chip."
The tiny semiconductor device is intended to be surgically implanted or injected into the body, according to the patent application, for the purpose of tracking visitors from other nations by global-positioning satellites and preventing them from overstaying their visas.
A German Patent and Trademark Office spokeswoman told Deutsche Presse Agentur the inventor's application, titled "Implantation of electronic chips in the human body for the purposes of determining its geographical location," was submitted in October 2007 and published 18 months later, as required by law, in a patents database.
Under Germany's patent law, inventions that are unethical or a danger to the public are not recognized.
"In recent times the number of people sought by security forces has increased," the Jeddah-based inventor wrote in his application.
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| Patent application diagram |
The device would emit encrypted radio waves that would be picked up by satellites and "used to track fugitives from justice, terrorists, illegal immigrants, criminals, political opponents, defectors, domestic help, and Saudi Arabians who don't return home from pilgrimages," Sweden's The Local reported.
The application included a request to patent a model B of the device that could release poison to "eliminate" the individual if he or she became a security risk.
"I apply for these reasons and for reasons of state security and the security of citizens," the statement reads.
German law allows foreigners to apply for patents in the country through a local representative. In the case of the "Killer Chip," a Munich law firm was used.
"Most people apply for a patent in several countries, and this inventor probably did too," Stephanie Krüger of the Patent Office said.
That leaves open the possibility the Saudi inventor will find success in another country.