and you get a thermal anemometer instead of a reference.
see patend of Joe Geller.
Frankly, I doubt he could get the patent for that - as it is a known general principle, nothing new..
You may apply for such a patent with any similar heated device, like my old OCXO - the crystal frequency and heater current behave the same way..
![Cheesy :D](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/cheesy.gif)
PS: ..but perhaps no Einsteins sitting in the Patent Office anymore..
PPS: on the other hand we were laughing years back on a patent where the guy claimed uploading the binary into the mcu's flash via a bootloader, fortunately he indicated a single TI's mcu partnumber only..
![Grin ;D](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/grin.gif)