Why filinig for a patent?

You don't have to sell the patent outright, another option is to license it. There may be some capitol gains tax advantages to this approach too.

As you mentioned, holding a patent doesn't guarantee protection. A Canadian company infringed on a US tool patent I held and sold their knock-offs in the US. This was about 14 years into the patent run. I had licensed a company to manufacture and market the tool, and they kindly sent me royalty checks. Doing battle would have likely cost at least $200K and would have meant defending on the east coast while I live in CA. The clincher was that my licensee really didn't want to do battle (he was responsible for 75% of the cost to defend) and it was felt that with the patent's age, and the minimal sales impact the infringer was making, it was a losing proposition.

All said, though, I disagree. If yours is a good idea and is not prior art . . . go for it. At least get the patent pending before going to market.

I've also licensed tool designs I didn't bother to patent (same mfg. as above), however they only paid me 1/2 the percentage they did on the patented tool.

i have been looking for a poem that applies. i shall have to look around as it is not where i thought it was. here is a litlle piece tho. that is almost as good as the othher that properly commemorates this event

miguel pinero-one of the original nuyorican poets

"just once before i die i want to climb up on a tenement sky to dream my lungs out till i cry then scatter my ashes thru the Lower East Side

From Houston to 14th St. from Second Ave. to the mighty D...

There's no other place to be there's no other place i can see there's no other town around that brings you up or keeps you down no food little heat sweeps by fancy cars & pimps bars and juke saloons and greasy spoons make my spirits fly with my ashes scattered thru Lower East Side...

there is more, obviously... plz be careful. no place to scatter anyone's ashes. particularly if you and candles do not get along. i will check that site later... this whole election thing is just a bit scary. gore is bad enuf. i cannot imagine how bush convinced so many people; that cia thing is something to consider... have a wonderful sunday. i guess there are no fairs today. have you been to chuck e cheese yet?

sturm and drain,

mk5000

"What case are you talking about, what manufacturer is being sued for a non-defective product (this cannot be the point of litigation as that then would be the question before the court and niether you nor I at poresent have all the facts) for damage done by criminals"--rico

snipped-for-privacy@my-deja.com (marika)

Leo

That's my general recollection, too. The individual was said to be from Gardner, Mass., iirc.

Maria

Thanks for the Nuyorican poem!!! It's prize is a medal, which is the content here. (sort of) FM

The sears push-button socket release guy apparently did sell his patent to sears, but they capped the royalties at some fairly large number, and told him that it would take years to reach that amount.

The first check he received was for the entire capped amount.

Apparently sears lied to him when they told him the number of units they anticipated selling, and this allowed them to cap the total payments at a very low level.

This was the basis for overturning the original contract and awarding him the damages.

Obviously if sears continued to sell the pushbutton release they would have to keep paying him royalties for every one sold. So they changed their design back and eliminated it, which is why for many years craftsman wrenches were bereft of such a handy device.

I guess the 17 years finally expired because they are now again push-button.

================================================== please reply to: JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com ==================================================

OK, but when in the process do they get published? I know a couple of applications were filed last year by assignees, with my name as inventor, but they don't appear as published apps on this site.

IANAL, but here's what "Patent Pending in 24 Hours" (a Nolo Press book, 2002) says "If you file a regular patent application, the USPTO will treat that application with secrecy for the first 18 months of the examining process. Approximately 18 months after you file your regular patent application, the USPTO will publish your patent (unless you requested nonpublication at the time you filed)." The FAQ's for the website mentioned in the previous post say "The database only includes data on Published Applications in accordance with the 18 month pre-grant publication rules. Pending patent applications where the applicant has elected to not publish prior to grant remain confidential." Apparently, if you agree to publication you can later sue for infringement retroactively to the date of publication, assuming the patent is eventually granted. But if the patent isn't granted you're screwed, because you've publicly divulged the secrets of your [non-]invention and anyone else can legally copy it.

Also, based on recent reading about patent law, it appears that provisional patent applications are never published.

These statements apply only to US patents. In Europe and elsewhere, patent applications are published approximately 6 months after filing. It seems that in the US, the PTO does all the work of reviewing a patent and evaluating the claims in preparation for a patent decision; it's by and large a secret process between the PTO and the applicant. In other countries, the process is more public, with the patent offices relying to some extent on public evaluation and comment.

Bert Smith

D>On 04 Aug 2003 05:28:08 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@aol.comminch (Peter H.) wrote: >

Good Grief. If that's the way they do business no wonder they're going down.

John

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