Asked in Copyright and Patents (Intellectual Property)

Q: Hello! How to get the right to use this patent for personal uses?

I am a teacher at school. I want to research Stanley Meyer's inventions.

1 Lawyer Answer
Kevin E. Flynn
PREMIUM
Kevin E. Flynn
Answered
  • Patents Lawyer
  • Pittsboro, NC

A: First, I want to congratulate you for being a teacher (the world needs great teachers) and congratulate you for wanting to do the right thing with respect to patent rights.

The process on JUSTIA did not convey the number for the patent of interest to the patent attorneys. But here are some general comments.

A) First step is always to ensure that the patent is still a barrier. Patents expire. Some expire early for a failure to pay a maintenance fee or some other event. Patent term is more confusing than it should be. Unfortunately, to try to make things fair, the rules have a number of layers.

I tried pasting my explanation of the patent term into this answer but I ran into space constraints. You can see my answer to this patent term question in the list of answers to questions at the end of my Justia profile.

B) If you determine that the patent is still in force, then you need to read the claims closely to see if you will be doing everything that is listed in an independent claim (a claim that does not reference another claim). You need to be doing every noun, every verb, and every other limitation in the body of the claim (sometimes the words in the initial preamble do not count so look for something beyond the initial phrase of An X to do Y.... (Feel free to do step B before step A if you prefer)

C) if the patent is no longer in force, or you won't be doing what is in any of the independent claims, then you can proceed without problems. One of the points of the patent system is to collect information so people can do what is in the patents once the patent expires.

D) If you think you need permission, then you may want to consider the experimental use safe harbor. You may want to have a patent attorney help you walk through this as this safe harbor is much smaller than you might think. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_exemption Asserting and winning on the experimental use safe harbor might cost a lot of money so it is cold comfort to be right but run up big legal bills to prove that.

E) If you decide to seek permission, then you need to know who can give permission. The inventor often assigns rights to a company so the inventor cannot give permission after the assignment. Often one company will assign to a different company so the named assignee on the face of the published patent is sometimes not the current owner. You can check who is the current owner at https://assignment.uspto.gov/patent/index.html#/patent/search

F) Probably you do not want to get a lawyer to negotiate a license for you as that might cost more money than justified in this situation. You could simply provide a detailed explanation of what you want to do and why and explain that this use is not a commercial use. You can send this description to the assignee.

One of several things will happen

1) They write back and threaten to sue if you proceed. If that happens you probably just wait until their patent lapses to do any testing. You do not have the time or money to bicker with unreasonable people.

2) They send you a nice letter back saying that you have their blessings.

3) You do not hear back at all You can try sending the letter a different way, perhaps by fax and email or by certified mail. (keep records of what you sent and how) If they still do not respond, then you might feel ok to proceed as they do not seem to care. This is not a license and the patent owner could still sue you. However, it is not likely that the patent owner would sue a teacher over a small use of the patented technology in a manner that did not cut into their commercial success. No guarantees but you will have known that you were honest with them. If you publish a paper disparaging their technology or post something unfavorable on YouTube, then that would tilt the scale towards them suing you just to stop your comments.

I hope that 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.