Be careful. Consult with an attorney.

The patent allows you to practice your improvement, but you are still bound by the active patents covering elements that are part of your invention.

The change needs to be novel and non obvious.

Yes, you can.

As long as you do not do what it says in the claims (literally or otherwise), you should be OK. You can take their idea of flexible sole, but just not what is in the claims.

I can't give you an exact answer to your question because I do not have all the information, but here is several points which you should consider.

(1) There is a difference between an ownership of a patent and an inventorship.

(2) An inventor is one who invented as least one... View More

The general type of patent is an issued United States Utility Patent (not a design patent and not a plant patent).

The claims are written a number of different ways but they cover articles of manufacture that have a feature to protect electrical components from excessive electrical surges.... View More

Robyn T. Williams Lawyers, want to be a Justia Connect Pro too? Learn more ›
answered on Feb 16, 2020

You have the option to license the patent/application or purchase the patent/application and have an assignment executed. I'd recommend a review of the entire IP portfolio if they are in fact out of business. My firm frequently handles licensing and assignment transactions.

Robyn T.... View More

If you filed a provisional patent application on March 14, 2016 and took no further action, then that provisional patent application expired. An expired provisional application that was not used as a priority document for a later patent application gives you no rights to exclude others.... View More

that definitely requires an in depth analysis and consultation with an attorney

in any case you always run the risk of somebody claiming you are copying something

you need to understand how many basic designs of trucks exists, how long they have been around, etc. in order to assess... View More

It would help to know the number of the patent you are talking about.

If this is important to you, consult an attorney.

Providing detailed legal advice goes far beyond the scope of Ask a Lawyer.

See https://www.uspto.gov/patents-getting-started/general-information-concerning-patents

To merit a patent, the combination must be non-obious. There should be some synergy in the combination. Sometimes a combination may be considered obvious if each component works in a well-known way. A patent attorney may be able to see synergy where the inventor may not. This is because the legal... View More

The number you cite is not a patent. It is a published version of an application. Not all patent applications become patents. According to Google Patents, this one did not.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20020198764A1/en?oq=20020198764

Sometimes a license agreement will... View More

This does not sound like a fit for the patent system.

35 USC 101

Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and... View More

Theoretically yes, but in practice this is rare.

A patent is considered as personal property, just like a car, a stock portfolio, or an old masters painting. So, yes, you can inherit a patent just like any other personal property.

In order to collect license fees, or... View More

A UK patent is a UK patent. There is not yet an EU patent. You can get your patent application examined by the European Patent Office so you only have to do that work once, but the allowed EPO claims are then validated in individual EPO countries such as the UK. So one patent application may end... View More

Further facts are needed to address this question. How do you know you inherited the patents? This cannot simply be assumed. Is there a will specifying that this property went to you? Did your father own the patent rights when he died? Who may have used the patent rights and when? Did this all... View More

A patent is a business tool. In "Ask a Lawyer" we can answer legal questions, but not business questions like if a patent is worth getting.

Let me ask you a few questions that you need to think about: after you spend $10K, $15K, $20K, or more, in getting a patent, what are you... View More

If your father was employed by a company and made inventions as part of his normal job duites, then the employer might consider your father fully paid in that he received his paycheck. As a paid to invent employee, the money paid by the company to your father would serve as consideration for the... View More

I no longer work on patent litigation so I am not your solution. But I like to help where I can.

A patent that expired last week might have some value as you can sue folks for infringing the patent for up to six years earlier than the date of the law suit.

So even a patent that... View More

Well, yes, you can. But it is not going to be easy, because there are so many of them out there already.

If someone has asserted that you have infringed their patent. then there are two principle ways to defend your actions. You can assert that your product or service does not infringe any claim of the patent. You can also assert that the patent claims of the patent are so broad that they read on... View More