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> Patents expire after 17 years That's under the old law. Nowadays, for patents that issue from original applications filed on or after June 8, 1995, it's 20 y

> Patents expire after 17 years That's under the old law. Nowadays, for patents that issue from original applications filed on or after June 8, 1995, it's 20 years from the earliest filing date upon which priority is claimed (possibly extended to account for delays in the USPTO). [0] AFAIK, most foreign countries follow the same rule — which is significant, because when one big company sues another for patent infringement, it will usually file parallel lawsuits in every country where (A) the plaintiff owns a patent and (B) the defendant sells the infringing product. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Term_of_patent_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Term_of_patent_in_the_United_S...

natch 9y ago
By my math, 39 years ago is prior to 1995. But yes for patents issued later than 1995, good point, thanks for the correction.
- dctoedt 9y ago
  For the benefit of anyone still reading, I'll work through an example. + Intel released the 8086 on June 8, 1978 [0]. Tech companies typically file U.S. patent applications just before the first public disclosure of the new technology, so as to preserve any available rights under non-U.S. patent law [1]. So let's assume that Intel filed one of its 8086 patent applications on June 7, 1978. + Let's also assume that it took exactly two years for that patent application to be issued as a patent, on June 7, 1980. Under the transition provisions of the "new" law, that patent would have expired on the later of (i) the issue date plus 17 years, that is, June 7, 1997; or (ii) the earliest filing date plus 20 years, that is, June 7, 1998. [0] https://www.techopedia.com/definition/20074/intel-8086 https://www.techopedia.com/definition/20074/intel-8086 [1] http://www.grr.com/patent-protection-and-the-novelty-requirement.htm http://www.grr.com/patent-protection-and-the-novelty-require...
  - natch 9y ago
    Let's break this down for the benefit of anyone who hadn't noticed. + Right now it's 2017 [0]. + 2017 > 1998 [1]. In fact it has been 6,944 or 6,945 days since June 7, 1998, depending on (i) your time zone and (ii) how you do your math. [2] + Moot facts are moot [3] [0] http://www.time.gov http://www.time.gov [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater-than_sign https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater-than_sign [2] http://www.howlongagogo.com/date/1998/june/7 http://www.howlongagogo.com/date/1998/june/7 [3] http://www.dictionary.com/browse/moot http://www.dictionary.com/browse/moot

natch 9y ago

By my math, 39 years ago is prior to 1995. But yes for patents issued later than 1995, good point, thanks for the correction.

dctoedt 9y ago
For the benefit of anyone still reading, I'll work through an example. + Intel released the 8086 on June 8, 1978 [0]. Tech companies typically file U.S. patent applications just before the first public disclosure of the new technology, so as to preserve any available rights under non-U.S. patent law [1]. So let's assume that Intel filed one of its 8086 patent applications on June 7, 1978. + Let's also assume that it took exactly two years for that patent application to be issued as a patent, on June 7, 1980. Under the transition provisions of the "new" law, that patent would have expired on the later of (i) the issue date plus 17 years, that is, June 7, 1997; or (ii) the earliest filing date plus 20 years, that is, June 7, 1998. [0] https://www.techopedia.com/definition/20074/intel-8086 https://www.techopedia.com/definition/20074/intel-8086 [1] http://www.grr.com/patent-protection-and-the-novelty-requirement.htm http://www.grr.com/patent-protection-and-the-novelty-require...
- natch 9y ago
  Let's break this down for the benefit of anyone who hadn't noticed. + Right now it's 2017 [0]. + 2017 > 1998 [1]. In fact it has been 6,944 or 6,945 days since June 7, 1998, depending on (i) your time zone and (ii) how you do your math. [2] + Moot facts are moot [3] [0] http://www.time.gov http://www.time.gov [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater-than_sign https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater-than_sign [2] http://www.howlongagogo.com/date/1998/june/7 http://www.howlongagogo.com/date/1998/june/7 [3] http://www.dictionary.com/browse/moot http://www.dictionary.com/browse/moot