Lansing, MI asked in Patents (Intellectual Property) for Michigan

Q: Please tell me if your my husbands Lawyer that patented speed latch on 9/23/2003 I'm the wife and I

I would like to re open the paten again if I could.

Is there a way?

1 Lawyer Answer

A: I am sorry, but I think that the patent is irretrievably gone.

No, I am not your attorney, but here is what I found based on publicly available records on patent 5,947,356, issued September 7, 1999.

Steven asked the U.S. Patent Office in October 2011, shortly after your husband’s death, to pay the last maintenance fee, but then in November he faxed them a request to withdraw the payment and he put a stop order on the check. Around December 15, 2011, the Patent Office sent to the Grand Ledge address, as well as Steven’s address in Calumet, a notice that shows that the petition to pay the maintenance fee has been dismissed with prejudice as moot.

You could hire a patent attorney to see if there is anything else that could be done or if I just got the above information wrong. In any case, even if your attorney would be successful in reviving the patent, please note it would expire in July next year anyway.

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