I believe it to be a patent I sent him to the patent office with.
This is not easy as the USPTO tools for searching fields such as name do not apply to patents from that time frame.
The assignment database goes back to 1980. The full text search tool on USPTO goes back to 1976. While the images of the earlier patents can be retrieved by patent number,... Read more »
It is possible that the product you are looking at is not covered by a current patent.
The best place to start is with the product itself and the packaging that comes with the product. There is an incentive to mark the patent number on the product or at least a web page address that... Read more »
how far away does something have to be to make it remote? and if is is connected by cables i.e. a computer to a tv, is this classed as remote?
Your question which seems narrow is actually at the heart of patent claim interpretation. In the United States, there is a hierarchy of sources for answering this question. The highest tier is what the applicant expressly wrote in the application or in the written record of arguments made to the... Read more »
I was looking to make another ramp or have one made and I don’t want to infringe on any patents. This plastic ramp has no mechanisms, no moving parts and is literally just a piece of plastic. There are mechanisms that attach to the ramp but I am not making any of those. Just the plastic ramp.... Read more »
You should be OK as long as this piece is not special and does not have a patent just on that piece. A person that has purchased a patented item can make repairs. There is a limit and you cannot do such massive repairs to a totally worn out item that you are effectively replacing the original... Read more »
Not sure when time goes by date filed or date granted and how iften again 3 years 7 and 12?
Maintenance fee window opens 3 years from issue date of patent. The window closes 4 years from the issue date. The process repeats at year 7 and year 11.
Purposeful failure to renew causes the patent to lapse. Unintentional failure to pay during the window can be fixed with payment of... Read more »
Short answer is that I do not know.
Good news is that there are several free online tools to do patent searching. I gave a talk on these tools
October 2016 presentation at the RTP Frontier as part of the lecture series for Triangle TechBreakfast. Teaches entrepreneurs on how to... Read more »
A thematic cruise route spanning over 4 continents and 10 cities.
This does not sound like a fit for the patent system.
35 USC 101
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and... Read more »
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 »
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