Q: Can I go after a company for copying my product if I only went through the patient pending submission for the year ?
Didn't have the money to go all the way through the patient process. Another company got a hold of our product for the intent to closely reputicate it. What can we do legally or can we start the patient process all over again to try and protect ourselves before they do ?
A:
If you had a public sale of your product, then your public sale put the product into the public domain and you cannot start over to seek a patent on that product. You could continue with the patent process if you started the process before the first public sale and did not abandon the process or did not fail to replace a provisional application with a non-provisional application.
What sort of sale would not be a problems?
If you sold the product to under a Non-Disclosure Agreement that meant that the product was to be used by the buyer but not disclosed to others, then you can seek a patent (there is a tiny bit of doubt about that but the Patent Office believes you can seek a patent under that situation).
99.99 percent of sales are not under a non-disclosure agreement so chances are that you are out of luck.
If the product was not being sold to the public but the product was shared with these people under a non-disclosure agreement -- such as they were vendors who were going to bid on making the product for you, then you may have rights under your contract with the vendor or under trade secret law and other business torts. You would need to consult litigation attorneys in the relevant state to sort out your options.
I hope this helps.
Kevin E Flynn
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.
