Q: How do I find out if the above patent is still live ? As I have heard it expired ? If so, can I purchase expired grants?
A:
Justia did not pass along the patent. But in general, you can use USPTO Public PAIR to check on what has happened to a patent. https://portal.uspto.gov/pair/PublicPair
Note that the USPTO is fairly liberal in allowing a patent owner to say that failure to pay a maintenance fee was unintentional. So with the payment of a fee, they can reinstate a patent that has lapsed for failure to pay a maintenance fee.
If a maintenance fee went unpaid within the last 2 years, they can revive with no questions asked. So proceed with caution. Always a good idea to check with a patent attorney before moving forward.
For example, there may be several patents from one application family and the patent owner may drop one but keep others.
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
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