I want to know if a patent done in the US protects the design in other parts of the world.
What happens if someone else outside of the US also has same idea? Can they go on and bring their idea to life if they're in another part of the world, say West Africa?
A patent only applies in the country or regional group that issued the patent. A patent applies to things made in that country and to things brought into that country. If a product is created outside the US and never enters the US, then a US patent is not relevant.
Many companies will... Read more »
What happens if patent holders allow other competing products on the market that conflict with an existing patent(s)? How many years can thes competitive products be allowed on the market before the Patent becomes unenforceable?
A UK patent is a UK patent. There is not yet an EU patent. You can get your patent application examined by the European Patent Office so you only have to do that work once, but the allowed EPO claims are then validated in individual EPO countries such as the UK. So one patent application may end... Read more »
Your question as conveyed did not include the patent number. But you said design. If the patent is a design patent, (rather than the more common utility patent), then that is normally pretty narrow coverage to keep someone from selling a product that looks confusingly similar to the patented... Read more »
Or is a red flag to Examiners so try to avoid it. Sometimes you cannot.
Not sure where you are getting the verbiage "or combination thereof" . That is not a standard way to write a claim. A quick search of US patents found many thousands with the word "combination" in the claims. But... Read more »
I have the perfect idea because my son is a coach and many youngsters have given him ideas how do I go about it ?
A good place to start is to look at patents for analogous products. That will help you understand what is already patented and how much effort it takes to secure a patent. My slides at http://bit.ly/Patent_Searching will give you some tips on patent searching using free tools.
The patent... Read more »
Infringement type: D816,988
Complaint ID: 6285184641
Its a bag with combo lock. My bag is lightly fatter then this designed in the patent. Also, my bag has bag handle from the left side. The design in the patent has handle on the right side. Is this enough to do not make IP... Read more »
Your question as conveyed to the attorneys did not include the patent number. You may want to ask the question again with the patent number.
Here are some items that may help. If the patent number starts with a "D", then it is for the ornamental design. You can sell a product that... Read more »
An actual patent will include a field in the upper right corner that says Date of Patent. A published application won't. There are other ways to tell but I wanted to give you the easiest one to explain via a post.
I hope that this helps.
Kevin E Flynn
I do not use the Justia site to download patents. You can download US patents at Google Patents -- https://patents.google.com/ or http://pat2pdf.org/. There are other sites but these are two that I use all the time.
Kevin E Flynn
I want to sell on Amazon through FBA, but every time I find a product and look it up on Google patents I always find a patent for it no matter what.
I think that it is great that you are taking the time to check to see if a product has a patent before you try to make a competing product.
A few pointers.
1) The product will usually have a marking on the product or the packaging for the product that indicates an issued US patent... Read more »
If someone else filed for that second patent, I would argue that given my patent, that the second patent is obvious but it really isn't that obvious and I want to be the one to file before someone else does. An analogous example: Think of the old power line communications technology where using a... Read more »
You asked -- So if #2 is obvious, will the PTO be more "understanding" of my argument to distinguish (my second patent application) since I own the original patent?
In general, the USPTO treats your actions (sales, public uses, and public disclosures) the same as the the actions of others... Read more »
....furthermore, while said idea has not been disclosed in public form, it turns out that the attorney/agent has accepted another client with the same inventive idea in process of being applied for - what is the attorneys legal obligation to 2nd client? Tell him that his idea has been "preceeded"?... Read more »
Ideally, the process would not get that far. The attorney should ask each prospective client to say without disclosing anything proprietary what type of good or service have you improved? When the attorney learned that the second inventor was in the same space as the first client (possibly with... Read more »
I agree with the first answer.
To further reduce your risks you can go to a plumbing supply store and look at the toilet seat covers. To the extent that any are marked with a patent, take a photo with your phone and look up that patent later. The manufacturers are apt to put their patent... Read more »
My father was involved in patents and was not sure if the family is entitled to anything from them.
If your father was employed by a company and made inventions as part of his normal job duites, then the employer might consider your father fully paid in that he received his paycheck. As a paid to invent employee, the money paid by the company to your father would serve as consideration for the... Read more »
I'm looking to patent a biodegradable portable charger for cell phones. I've seen some disposable charger patents however I'd like to clarify if I were to have a different product that essentially can be disposable, if I can patent it in a different way. If possible I'm happy to work with the... Read more »
One of the hurdles for a patent claim is to show that it is new and thus does not cover anything that has already existed in reality or on paper. That is not the hardest hurdle.
The hurdle that is the toughest is whether the changes from what previously existed to what you disclose would... Read more »
corporation with zero value but with license to use and shares owned by deceased also
The patent system does not have special inheritance rules. The property passes in accordance with local law.
Assuming that you are correct that the patent is expired, then the smart move would be to look for newer patents to that cite the patent you have found. Tips on how to do that are at http://bit.ly/Patent_Searching. You may want to check for other patents on this product by checking the assignee... Read more »
You can file a provisional patent application and say patent pending for a year but that may not be a long-term fix. In order for the patent process to be valuable to you, you need to get claims in a non-provisional application through the examination process. You will need to show that what you... Read more »
searching to see if a patent is already taken for a new style of electrical box for your home.
You may want to review this slide set on how to do some preliminary searching on your own. http://bit.ly/Patent_Searching You may find that your idea is patented or was at least published as a pending application.
As noted in the slide set, you will not be able to see all the... Read more »
If you mean by "take" that you can pursue the patent process and obtain an issued patent and preclude others from practicing the invention. The answer is no as you were not the first to invent whatever is in the abandoned patent.
If you mean by "take" that you can make or use the ideas in... Read more »
We do not have an option for an international patent. (Yes, I know many people write that they have an international patent, but they are wrong). We have a type of patent application that is the front end for many patent system. This is called a Patent Cooperation Treaty Application (PCT... Read more »
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