We all want to know what exactly happened with goretex

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In 1966, John W. Cropper of New Zealand developed and constructed a machine for producing stretched PTFE tape. Rather than file for a patent, however, Cropper chose to keep the process of creating expanded PTFE as a closely held trade secret and required his producer and its employees to sign confidentiality agreements.[2]

In 1969, Bob Gore independently discovered expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) and introduced it to the public under the trademark Gore-Tex,[3] for which he promptly applied for and obtained U.S. Patent 3,953,566, issued April 27, 1976 and U.S. Patent 4,187,390, issued February 5, 1980.

In the 1970s Garlock, Inc. infringed Gore's patents and was promptly sued by Gore in the Federal District Court of Ohio. After a "bitterly contested case" that "involved over two years of discovery, five weeks of trial, the testimony of 35 witnesses (19 live, 16 by deposition), and over 300 exhibits," (quoting the Federal Circuit) the District Court held Gore's patents to be invalid. On appeal, however, the Federal Circuit disagreed in the famous case of Gore v. Garlock, reversing the lower court's decision on the ground, inter alia, that Cropper forfeited any superior claim to the invention by virtue of having concealed the process for making ePTFE from the public, thereby establishing Gore as the legal inventor.[4]

PTFE is made using an emulsion polymerization process that utilizes the fluorosurfactant PFOA,[5][6] a persistent environmental contaminant. As Gore-Tex is PTFE-based, PFOA is used in its production.[7]

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