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the displays have an array of switchable mirrors individually addressable, unlike nature in this case.

(but sort of like chromophores in an octopus or cuttlefish, perhaps).

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I see, but those MEMs mirrors were already invented.
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Inventions can be useful recombinations or applications of other inventions. They don't need to be wholly unique unto themselves. Indeed, the vast majority of them are not wholly unique.
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We're talking about a millions year old invention here.
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As far as the patent system is concerned, 20 years and a million years are the same thing. If you combine some million year old things in a new way, you can get a patent.
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