The 22, 000 heat protection tiles shield the shuttle from the 3, 000-degree Fahrenheit temperatures encountered during reentry into Earth's atmosphere for landing.
"The promised privacy safeguards do not provide adequate protection to shield Street View from the general requirement of notice and consent, " said the complaint.
But buying insurance can provide adequate liability protection and a corporate or partnership shield alone might not get you off the hook for negligence, says Buffalo lawyer Scott Friedman.
After waiting for years to obtain a patent, and enduring a difficult path of expensive examination, the patent owner would have to endure still more attacks, without the shield of the clear and convincing evidence standard for protection.