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No, there is no way that is quick and inexpensive. Patents are presumed valid and the least difficult way to try to knock one down is an ex parte reexamination. Anyone can file a request based on submitting published documents and an explanation as to how they apply to which claims, and $6000. The patent office gets 3 months to decide if there is a "...
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My idea was to create an online system which allows defendants which are accused of patent infringement to find other defendants in the same situation, being sued or threatened to be sued. This would allow several defendants to combine resources and take down some of the patent trolls. Perhaps it could be an addition to this awesome website!
Crowdfunding ...
8
Two or three issues involved with this. A patent that expired due to non-payment of maintance fee can be revived by petition as either unintentional or unavoidable. Unintentional has a two-year limit and unavoidable is very hard to establish. Only the patent owner can file these, not just anyone who comes along. Even if revived there are intervening rights (...
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Let us consider a sample patent family lifecycle, beginning in 2009.
1 Jan 2009: Provisional application PROV1 is filed.
A provisional doesn't really have a term, since it never becomes a patent. However, after 12 months it is no longer useful for claiming priority/benefit. We can therefore say it expires after 12 months (on 1 Jan 2010).
PROV1 therefore (...
5
Making and offering for sale are also on the list of things one can't do. Designing is ok but testing prototypes might be making and using. If the patent owner is agreeable you could negotiate a non-exclusive license for a single payment fixed amount to make and use but not to offer for sale or sell (until it expired). Or a license (exclusive or not ...
4
A patent has a term of twenty years from the date of its first filing. It should be noted that once these twenty years are over, a patent is no longer in force.
However, there are certain scenarios where a patent has "lapsed" or "ceased to have effect" or “expired” even before its 20 years term, due to non-payment of annuity/maintenance fee associated with ...
3
If the patent was issued in the mid 1900's, then the patent is long expired. No one can "take over" the patent because the patent information is now in the public domain and free for everyone to use.
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How long does it take to patent a product and how do I start the process?
It all depends on the quality of invention and number of examination reports issued for said patent application.
Europe
The European patent grant procedure takes about three to five years from the date your application is filed. It is made up of two main stages. The first comprises ...
3
The patent application was filed on June 7, 1995 and issued on April 8, 1997.
US patents issuing from patent applications filed on or after June 8, 1995 have a term of 20 years from the earliest non-provisional patent application priority date. US patents issuing from patent applications filed prior to June 8, 1995 have a term equal to the greater of 17 ...
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Check the unpatent.co website. It's a platform for crowdfunding of campaigns against malicious patents.
Also check Unified Patents.
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To add to Mr. White's answer, there is also inter partes reexamination, in which you can actively participate in the process. Cost is higher, and each new submission requires additional fees.
Also, "another few thousand to get it done professionally" is a bit low. :-) I suppose you could find someone to do the filing for cheap, but really, to do it ...
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I agree with chempatent1981's answer on the expiry. I shall therefore focus on the when damages might be due.
You have used the term "royalty period". However, as far as I know, that is not really a widely used term. Perhaps a more common description would be the period during which actionable infringement may occur.
There are three periods in which "...
3
It doesn't matter for the old patent. Improvements not described are not protected (unless encompassed in the old claims if they are broad).
You can file a new application and the old one would be prior art.
The patent system only cares about whats in your final application, not about what your actually build. It only protects whats in the granted claims, ...
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The epo doesn't use the name continuation and the concepts are somewhat different. What you can do however:
You can file a new application claiming priority within one year of the first filing and introduce new subject matter there. The new matter will have the new priority date and the old matter will have the old priority date.
You can also file a ...
2
You have it basically right. First an application is submitted and it gets an application number and a tentative filing date. Over the next few weeks it is checked by administrative people for conformance and completeness with respect to formal requirements. They are not looking at content other then that the minimum requirements are met. These include ...
2
It is important to remember that a patent does not give anybody the right to do what the patent covers. For example, if I had a patent on a more effective delivery system for MDMA or LSD, having a patent doesn't change the fact that those drugs are considered Schedule 1 and illegal under almost every circumstance -- meaning that my delivery system couldn't ...
2
If you're sure that the patent has really expired, then the specific invention in the patent is no longer patent-protected, so the patent holder can't sue over it. However, make sure of this, because figuring out when a patent has really expired can be complicated.
Additionally, keep in mind that patents can overlap, which means that even if that one ...
2
The issue is not publicized but published. Technically anything posted on the internet that is reliably dateable and is an "enabling" discloser is prior art that should keep someone from getting a patent on that subject matter. However, if the patent examiner does not come across it in their search it wouldn't factor in to the prosecution of the patent ...
2
A patent cannot be "re-patented" once it has completed its lifespan. Patents are granted to inventors of new things. Once published, whatever the patent describes is "old" from then on. The actual expiration date may be different from exactly 20 years, processing time and/or other extensions to its term may be applicable. The USPTO Public PAIR site will ...
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Patents are territorial rights and for limited period of time(i.e. 20 years). subject query patent was filed in 1992 granted in 1994 and expired way back. Since your Mother assigned you patent in 1999 you could have paid fee till 2000. There is no point to revive the application which has passed its term.
2
The USPTO put out a working paper in June 2015 titled "The USPTO Historical Patent Data Files: Two centuries of invention". In it they state "Internal estimates suggest that 11.9% of patents granted in 2012 contain terminal disclaimers. This rate has increased
from 3.4% in 1990; thus we expect this to become an increasing problem with respect to calculating ...
2
It is common in patents to find a new way to solve an old problem. I have no specific knowledge in chain lubrication techniques so I can't comment on whether this patent is novel. However, looking at the patent, there are ten patent citations reviewed by the examiner dating back to 1904. The examiner must have found the specific implementation as described ...
2
Software as such are potentially patentable. However there is quite some limitations to this, even in the US.
See for a related question that has been answered here:Can I patent a new internet based game which doesn't exist already?
It is as you say there will be issues with copyright and this expires generally 70 years after the death of the author. ...
2
The original filing date is November 9, 1989. A Utility patent is valid for a term of 20 years, which means this patent expired on November 9, 2009 and is no longer valid. The link you posted to does not infringe on this particular patent, but it might be infringing on other patents.
Edit: Eric pointed out that this patent was pre-1995 and there for only ...
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a. The US filing date is the PCT filing date. You can find this stated clearly in this useful web page http://www.bpmlegal.com/howtoterm.html (1st asterisk). 20 year life time starts from the filing date, so the clock starts ticking at 31.12.2017.
b. You have not specified if you are using the US filing as a priority or as normal US filing. You have two ...
2
How are patents handled internationally? Which is the foremost authority on patents?
Patents are territorial in nature. So if your invention would have a market in a particular country , you would apply for a patent there. The patent prosecution in that territory would be governed by the National laws of that country. There is no such thing as an ...
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A US patent issued in 1955 had an expiration of 17 years after issuance. US copyright expiration has nothing to do with patent expiration.
Longer answer: The 17-year rule was changed for utility patent applications filed after June 8, 1995, at which point the patent term became "20 years after filing". More variations and details can be found at 35 USC § ...
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Basically yes. However, it doesn't save the inventor from claims by third parties that a product made by the inventor infringes on that third party's patents. Someone else may have already invented and patented it or some aspect of it. You might invent a turbo lawn mower and publish the invention to put it in the public domain. That doesn't mean someone else ...
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From the wording of your question I would say no.
To get a patent one must have a fixed idea of how to make and use the invention. And the written specification and drawings need to show someone of ordinary skill in the art how to make and use the invention without undue experimentation. As your question is worded I do not think you know how to make anything ...
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It depends, as George White explains, on whether the invention is sufficiently enabled. It is possible to get a patent on an invention that isn't realizable with current technology or where it is economically infeasible. Peter Glaser obtained a patent on the solar power satellite in 1973. There was no hope for actual implementation of his invention before ...
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