It's basically the same principle as a P-Bass or Fender Electric XII pickup, I suppose. And there were the "domino" pickups in second-series PRS EGs, and G&L's Z-Coil pickups.
The difference is, all those pickups had the two half-coils offset into a "stepped" shape. I wonder if Curtis Novak has had to compromise a bit on the number of winds to get the two coils next to each other? :?
He's got some great inventive stuff on his site, like the P90 in a Melody Maker cover. I like the look of his humbucking
Tele pickup, and it's not too expensive either.