The reference patent is for a Foveon type sensor. It proposes to overcome the light loss in the deepest layer of photo sites by making the photo site three dimensional and resonant at the wavelength of the color (apparently red). By making the photosite resonant, the sensitivity to that color of light is greatly increased, which makes tiny photosites more practical.
This is one of the big drawbacks with existing Foevon Sensors, they have poor light sensitivity due to light loss or diffusion of light traveling to the lower layer. It gets very bad as photo sites get smaller.
Its very likely that the sensor is being tested, but that's normal, you have to test to verify that a new technology works and that its practical. The big question is still whether it overcomes the inherent weaknesses of a Foveon type sensor. They have issues with color accuracy, high ISO noise, and reduced DR. We want more of all those, so it would be a big breakthrough if that actually happened.