This is not a copyright question. Technically, this is not a patent question. To get a license from an owner of a patent, you are getting a form of a contract. Contracts are an issue of state law so you should find a business attorney that writes licenses and contracts.

The owner of the... View More

Stephen E. Zweig Lawyers, want to be a Justia Connect Pro too? Learn more ›
answered on Mar 2, 2022

Unfortunately, most likely not. Your partner had two options to get a US patent. Either apply directly for a US patent within a year of filing for the Chinese patent, or alternatively file for an international (PCT) patent application, and then apply for a US patent application within 30 months... View More

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... View More

I am so sorry that you are having this problem but you posted your question to PaTent attorneys that deal with inventors and inventions.

You need to post this question to people in your state that know the relevant material. I suggest that you start with Family Law. There may be other... View More

While a few patent applications are allowed the first time that the Examiner reviews the claims, it is very common for a patent attorney to review the rejections from the Examiner and do one of three things.

1) Explain to the examiner in the next written response, why the arguments made by... View More

I love for all my clients to read some patents in their space. That way they know what level of detail goes into a patent. Here is a link to my slide set that teaches entrepreneurs how to use free tools to look for relevant patents and applications. https://bit.ly/Patent__Searching

The... View More

What you're requesting requires a great deal of analysis by an attorney, which means comparing the elements of the claims to the allegedly infringing product, in view of the specification and prosecution history. In other words, it would be impossible to tell without a patent lawyer's... View More

Sending the plans to yourself does not provide any intellectual property rights, by way of patents or otherwise. There are people who like the idea that sending the plans to yourself accomplishes a sort of proof by virtue of the fact that it's got the post office's date to show when an... View More

It is typically much easier to fight a patent application before the patent issues than fight against a patent. And yes, after America Invents Act, it is now easier to fight patent applications and patents than before.

With regards to geography, patents are enforceable only in the... View More

To be named as an inventor on a patent, a person must have intellectually contributed to the invention described in at least one claim. A lab technician who runs all experiments may be named as an inventor if he/she devised some questions and experiments on their own to address a point of interest... View More

Unless you are seeking to obtain a patent on a similar system or invalidate the patent for the existing system, this is not a patent issue for a patent attorney.

I hope that you find what you need.

Kevin E Flynn

The required maintenance fees for this patent seem to have been timely paid to date, so it seems that the patent is active. The independent claims, however, are quite detailed (and potentially narrow). Your first step should be to sit down with a patent attorney and have them go over the... View More

Stephen E. Zweig Lawyers, want to be a Justia Connect Pro too? Learn more ›
answered on Feb 1, 2022

I am not sure if this applies to your situation or not. However many products from the 80's and 90's, unless covered by trademarks (such as the product's name or logo) or copyrights (for example, graphics), are now "public domain." In such cases, anyone might be able to... View More

Your question in a general sense is does it matter whether or not you have seen a patent for an idea before you start selling a product covered by that patent.

The answer is that you are liable for patent infringement to the owner of the earlier, unexpired patent whether or not you had... View More

An expired patent cannot be used to obtain royalties or to block the actions of others. But the patent is not worthless. It has been added to the body of knowledge of people. This was part of the deal for obtaining a limited period of exclusivity. The patent may be used to help teach others how... View More

Utility patent terms are 20 years from the filing date (plus any possible patent term adjustments). The U.S. patent 4,784,433, "Portable sunshade for infants in vehicles" has expired in 2008. Once a patent expires, it becomes a public property. Everyone can make it or use it without... View More

That really depends on what the patent claims say. The claims may be very narrow and you could get away with making something similar, or they could be broad and you are going to have a hard time making a helmet that competes well with the patented one.

You need to see a patent attorney... View More

Kudos to you for wanting to do the right thing. The answer is that you need to work with a patent attorney to do a freedom-to-operate (sometimes called clearance) search. The attorney or a contractor working for the attorney will look for patents that that have not expired or published... View More

I, along with others, am available. Reach out to a few of us.

It depends. You need to have a deep conversation with your patent attorney.

IF the other guys filed before you, it is possible that they have an upper hand.

If you filed first, they would not have a way to know about your invention unless you made it public.

If you get the... View More