The way to expand your rights beyond the original country of filing is to file a US application within 12 months of filing of the first application. Under the Paris Convention, you can file in the US and the priority date of the later filed US application will be the same as the earlier filed... Read more »

I doubt that this is a patent question. I would be shocked if Dodge had a design patent on a virtual image of any of its automobiles. Their patents for things in the real world don't apply to images rather than actual automobiles.

Note that phone manufacturers can and do get design... Read more »

Were you employed by this large company when you made the invention? Did you sign paperwork to assign the rights to the invention over to the large company or to some other company which may have passed rights or licensed the large company?

Inventorship and ownership are different things.... Read more »

The publication of a patent application and the examination process are not tied. An application is usually published in the US at 18 months after the earliest priority document (this would include an earlier provisional application) but it could be as early as a few months after filing the... Read more »

I don't use Justia to search for patents so I do not know that interface. There are other tools that allow you to find patents including Google patents https://patents.google.com/

This patent expired 20 years after filing for an expiration date of January 31, 2010.

Kevin E Flynn

There is not a patent question here. This is a question of your end user agreement and possibly copyright law.

If you are devoting a substantial amount of time or money into this project, then it is a good use of your time to talk with a patent attorney that files patent applications for apps. There are special obstacles in seeking patents in that space so you need some frank advice from someone that has... Read more »

This is not an isolated case. Many people of limited means are encouraged to file patent applications that are on a path to nowhere by invention promotion firms. The federal government is aware of these firms. You can file a complaint, and find other useful information via the links at this... Read more »

People file patent applications with improvements on previously patented inventions every day. The Bell patent on the telephone was issued more than 100 years ago. People are still patenting improvements to the telephone.

Now you may have to worry about whether the earlier patent is... Read more »

This question came to me a patent (invention) question. It is not.

You may want to list this as a criminal law question as the police are there to enforce criminal laws such as trespass or violation of an order to not be someplace.

I hope that this helps.

Kevin E Flynn

Mr. Mlynek is correct.

However, that does not close the door on patenting an improvement to the old device. But the improvement needs to be enough to merit a patent. In other words, the change needs to be sufficiently inventive that it would not be an obvious change to a person of... Read more »

I do not think it is a good idea for you to draft and file a patent application without the help of a patent attorney. Some people do so and the USPTO can be somewhat generous in helping DIY applicants but there is a great risk that you do not know what you do not know and you will lose important... Read more »

I give talks to entrepreneurs all the time. One of my slide sets emphasizes that there is no harm from getting in contact with a patent attorney early. But there can be serious consequences to waiting until it is too late to preserve both US and non-US rights.

So reach out to a patent... Read more »

This question was posted to Patent Attorneys that deal with inventions. I assume that you meant to post to attorneys that deal with parents. You should post again but seek input from attorneys that do "Estate Planning" as these folks handle wills and challenges to wills.

Good... Read more »

This is not a copyright question. Technically, this is not a patent question. To get a license from an owner of a patent, you are getting a form of a contract. Contracts are an issue of state law so you should find a business attorney that writes licenses and contracts.

The owner of the... Read more »

Justia did not pass along the patent. But in general, you can use USPTO Public PAIR to check on what has happened to a patent. https://portal.uspto.gov/pair/PublicPair

Note that the USPTO is fairly liberal in allowing a patent owner to say that failure to pay a maintenance fee was... Read more »

I am so sorry that you are having this problem but you posted your question to PaTent attorneys that deal with inventors and inventions.

You need to post this question to people in your state that know the relevant material. I suggest that you start with Family Law. There may be other... Read more »

While a few patent applications are allowed the first time that the Examiner reviews the claims, it is very common for a patent attorney to review the rejections from the Examiner and do one of three things.

1) Explain to the examiner in the next written response, why the arguments made by... Read more »

I love for all my clients to read some patents in their space. That way they know what level of detail goes into a patent. Here is a link to my slide set that teaches entrepreneurs how to use free tools to look for relevant patents and applications. https://bit.ly/Patent__Searching

The... Read more »