In 2014, Blue Origin patented the idea of landing a rocket vertically at sea, before it had launched a single orbital rocket, then used the patent to try to block SpaceX from doing exactly what SpaceX was already attempting to do. At that point Blue Origin had flown suborbital test vehicles but had not come close to landing an orbital-class booster anywhere, at sea or otherwise. Landing a rocket stage on a platform at sea by controlling its descent with the engines was not some novel invention Blue Origin had dreamed up. Effectively, Blue Origin agreed to lose rather than have a board formally rule that it had lost. Blue Origin’s own orbital-class rocket, New Glenn, didn’t reach orbit until 2024, nearly a decade later.