4 ms·

the requirement would be more that you need to actively be pursuing the thing you're patenting, instead of simply reserving the idea. Perhaps the patent-holder

the requirement would be more that you need to actively be pursuing the thing you're patenting, instead of simply reserving the idea. Perhaps the patent-holder could be required to maintain a website that shows how to reduce the invention to practice. However, all US patents are already published online, and, by definition, they all show how to reduce to practice. A caveat is that patents can sometimes remain secret for a number of years before being disclosed by the USPTO. Besides that, patents are enforced at least back to their initial filing dates (not their issuing dates), and therefore a company could be working on a product for several years without having any way of knowing that a patent on that product had been applied-for before they started. - The USPTO does have a method in place for encouraging patent-holders to market their inventions. It is the patent maintenance-fee schedule: http://robertplattbell.blogspot.com/2007/10/understanding-maintenance-fees.html http://robertplattbell.blogspot.com/2007/10/understanding-ma... U.S. Maintenance fees are progressive, so each successive fee is much more than the previous one. The idea is to encourage inventors to allow their Patents to expire unless they are actually being used. The Government does not want inventors to “sit on” Patents with the hope that maybe somebody will someday infringe, and then they can sue. With the Maintenance Fees, it is “use it or lose it”. Maintenance Fees are raised periodically along with all other Patent Fees, so it is hard to say exactly what they will be. At the time of this writing (July, 2005) the fees are as follows: YEAR Large Entity Small Entity 3 Years: $900 $450 7 Years: $2,300 $1,150 11 Years: $3,800 $1,900 If these maintenance fees are not presently doing the job, perhaps they should be raised. How about multiplying the figures above by 1,000? That way, the final maintenance fee for a large entity would be $3.8 million.

anamax 18y ago
> A caveat is that patents can sometimes remain secret for a number of years before being disclosed by the USPTO. That's true only if "a number of years" is intended to mean "one year". With the exception of national security stuff, US patents are now published one year after application. That change happened several years ago. > Besides that, patents are enforced at least back to their initial filing dates (not their issuing dates), Since US Patents' term (if issued) also starts with their filing date, why is that objectionable? (Yes, if a US application takes 5 years to go from filing to issue, filing to issue time counts as part of the 20 year term.)
- gravitycop 18y ago
  With the exception of national security stuff, US patents are now published one year after application. http://robertplattbell.blogspot.com/2009/01/prior-art-searches.html http://robertplattbell.blogspot.com/2009/01/prior-art-search... If a Patent is "pending" it is kept secret for 18 months, then it might be published. Some are not published (it is an opt-out system) others filed under the old rules (pre 2001) are not published, period. So it is possible that a patent may be "pending" that you don't know about. If this product has been on the market for several years, the likelihood of it being "pending" diminishes accordingly. But some Patents take 5, 6 or more years to issue. So you may never have a concrete answer whether one of your competitors has filed for a patent or not. Additionally, a patent can be reserved, almost two years before filing, by the following sequence: 1. Perform an Invention Disclosure before a credible witness. 2. Wait almost one year. 3. File a Provisional Application for Patent. 4. Wait almost one year. 5. File an Application for Patent. So, normally, there could be 3.5 years of secrecy. If USPTO publication is opted-out, or if the filing was done under the pre-2001 rules, the secrecy term could be longer, possibly to infinity.
  - anamax 18y ago
    "On filing of a plant or utility application on or after November 29, 2000, an applicant may request that the application not be published, but only if the invention has not been and will not be the subject of an application filed in a foreign country that requires publication 18 months after filing (or earlier claimed priority date) or under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Publication occurs after the expiration of an 18-month period following the earliest effective filing date or priority date claimed by an application." http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/index.html#pub http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/index.html#...

anamax 18y ago

> A caveat is that patents can sometimes remain secret for a number of years before being disclosed by the USPTO. That's true only if "a number of years" is intended to mean "one year". With the exception of national security stuff, US patents are now published one year after application. That change happened several years ago. > Besides that, patents are enforced at least back to their initial filing dates (not their issuing dates), Since US Patents' term (if issued) also starts with their filing date, why is that objectionable? (Yes, if a US application takes 5 years to go from filing to issue, filing to issue time counts as part of the 20 year term.)

gravitycop 18y ago
With the exception of national security stuff, US patents are now published one year after application. http://robertplattbell.blogspot.com/2009/01/prior-art-searches.html http://robertplattbell.blogspot.com/2009/01/prior-art-search... If a Patent is "pending" it is kept secret for 18 months, then it might be published. Some are not published (it is an opt-out system) others filed under the old rules (pre 2001) are not published, period. So it is possible that a patent may be "pending" that you don't know about. If this product has been on the market for several years, the likelihood of it being "pending" diminishes accordingly. But some Patents take 5, 6 or more years to issue. So you may never have a concrete answer whether one of your competitors has filed for a patent or not. Additionally, a patent can be reserved, almost two years before filing, by the following sequence: 1. Perform an Invention Disclosure before a credible witness. 2. Wait almost one year. 3. File a Provisional Application for Patent. 4. Wait almost one year. 5. File an Application for Patent. So, normally, there could be 3.5 years of secrecy. If USPTO publication is opted-out, or if the filing was done under the pre-2001 rules, the secrecy term could be longer, possibly to infinity.
- anamax 18y ago
  "On filing of a plant or utility application on or after November 29, 2000, an applicant may request that the application not be published, but only if the invention has not been and will not be the subject of an application filed in a foreign country that requires publication 18 months after filing (or earlier claimed priority date) or under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Publication occurs after the expiration of an 18-month period following the earliest effective filing date or priority date claimed by an application." http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/index.html#pub http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/index.html#...