I'm very dubious about patents
You and me both!
My brother designed and installed the very first electronic key for hotel rooms back in 1969 and registered the patent - the card was waved over a panel in the door which shot the lock once triggered. A very large household named company wanted to promote the product and pay my sibling a pittance of a "retainer" which he politely refused.
The result was that the company changed the design slightly so that the key card was inserted into a slot and registered a patent for the new design.
So the inventor got nothing, the "copycat" is now a "world-class" company!
(............and there are, when you investigate, thousands of similar stories!)
So, I doubt whether Sir Richard's latest chip-on-the-shoulder will bear fruit!