Q: My Grandfather is Warren Depperman, My name is Mario Depperman (Grandson). Does he own patients I could claim?
A: It sounds like you're asking for an intellectual property search for your grandfather. If you'd like to search this for yourself, you should search for his assignments in the databases at the USPTO (https://portal.uspto.gov/pair/PublicPair) and the Library of Congress (https://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First). You will need to determine which patents, trademarks, and copyrights he has ownership rights in and are still active (meaning all fees have been paid). I perform these searches all the time as part of my practice. Please let me know if you need assistance.
A:
Mario, your grandfather was an inventor on 9 US patents. Eight of these patents were owned by Cogsdill Tool Products, Inc. of Camden, SC, and one was owned by Chamberlain Manufacturing Corporation of Elmhurst, IL, when your grandfather lived in Waterloo. I presume that these companies were his employers before he retired.
You (or anyone else) cannot inherit these patents because they were owned by his employer and not by him. Also, there is nothing to inherit even if he would have owned them, because all 9 of these patents have already expired.
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