4 ms·

How long until the patents expire?

• loeg 6y ago
  ~2009 + 20 years. You've got a long time to wait if you're not part of OIN. They're arguably invalid patents, in the sense that the filesystems concepts within are not remotely novel and the application to FAT is trivial and obvious.
  • ComputerGuru 6y ago
    Released 2006, actually. Shipped with WinCE 6.0.
    • loeg 6y ago
      Doesn't matter when the code shipped, only when the patents were applied for. The application date on the later patents is 2009. https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/040789901/publication/US2009164539A1?q=pn%3DUS8606830 https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/0407899... https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/040789823/publication/US2009164440A1?q=pn%3DUS8321439 https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/0407898...
      • toast0 6y ago
        In a sense, it doesn't matter if the patents are valid or not, but isn't the rule that you have to apply within one year of making the invention available, and shouldn't including it in a release count for that? (Maybe that rule changed with the big changes around first to file and expiration based on application instead of grant date.)
        • rayiner 6y ago
          No, you are correct. Publicly shipping the product that implements the invention starts the clock. But here, the parents claim priority to an application filed in 2004. (That means the invention was disclosed in that earlier application, even if it wasn’t specifically claimed.) When you claim priority like that, your 20 years starts running from the earliest priority date. So the patents expire in 2024.