Q: Can old German, EU, and other foreign patents generate royalties even after US patents have expired?
USPTO# 5,5227,590 was my very first patent on LBM. This was a really big deal. We revolutionized materials science globally. Boeing manufactured parts using our tech globally. We filed patents all over the world. Even if we can't do anything in the USA, what about other nations? Can any of this be considered retroactively? I'm talking about hundreds of millions of dollars.
A:
Congratulations on inventing a revolutionary idea.
The patent system is designed to provide a reward for inventors (or their employers) for a LIMITED time. While the patent systems are not identical, they all have a provision to have patents time out. Long ago, the timer was set to when the patent issued. Now most timers run from the earliest filing date of a patent application in the chain of priority claims. (There are special rules about provisional applications).
So unless one of your patent applications is still kicking around and not yet issued in a system that times from the issue date, I do not see how you would have patents that can last significantly longer in other countries than they did here.
With respect to seeking patent protection in countries that you did not pursue initially, you can try but those systems would deem your published patents as prior art and you would need to be patentable over your own patents and any improvements that have been issued in other patents or trade journal articles (etc. etc. etc.).
You may want to bring the specific details of your patent situation to a patent attorney to see if that attorney can find a solution that is not obvious from your fact pattern, but I do not see a way to get a second run on patent protection for an idea that was already patented.
If you found this answer helpful, you may want to look at my answers to other questions about patent law are available at the bottom of my profile page at
https://lawyers.justia.com/lawyer/kevin-e-flynn-880338
Kevin E Flynn
A:
Your patent, US 5,527,590, expired on 18 June 2004, because you failed to pay the maintenance fees. It would have expired by now anyway.
No, you cannot file applications to the same stuff in other countries, because you can only get a patent for something new. This has been around for about 25 years.
Now, you could improve on the LBM technology, and patent that. If this technology is indeed worth hundreds of millions of dollars, then you should hire a patent attorney for a few thousand dollars to help you through this.
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