3 ms·

It's actually worse than that. Tech companies routinely use a combination of patents, trade secrets and copyright to make the shared knowledge (patents) basical

by cletus 14y ago

It's actually worse than that. Tech companies routinely use a combination of patents, trade secrets and copyright to make the shared knowledge (patents) basically useless but an exceptionally good defensive and offensive weapon. I recall this came up with Intel and other companies reverse-engineering the Netburst bus. EDIT: removed point about first-to-file as prior art would largely invalidate such attempts beyond a very narrow time frame.

statusgraph 14y ago
My (limited) understanding is you can still argue prior art to invalidate the patent. First to file would only come up if both SpaceX and a Chinese company had patents and went to court. The wiki article expounds a little: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leahy-Smith_America_Invents_Act#First_to_file_and_grace_period http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leahy-Smith_America_Invents_Act...
- enraged_camel 14y ago
  >>First to file would only come up if both SpaceX and a Chinese company had patents and went to court. If they went to court in the same country, you mean.
  - _k 14y ago
    I've seen companies enter into a partnership with a Chinese company to manufacture niche products. A few years in, the partnership is stopped and the Chinese company copies everything, shows up on trade shows, etc. There's nothing you can do about it. Patents don't matter in China. Customers buy the products in China.
Tuna-Fish 14y ago
First to file doesn't work like that. Their patent would be struck down on prior art if they ever tried to use it.
- anonymouz 14y ago
  If they keep it secret, it's usually not considered prior art (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior_art https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior_art).
  - sehugg 14y ago
    Apparently the Leahy-Smith Act allows trade secrets to be used as a patent infringement defense in some cases (IANAL): http://www.patentbaristas.com/archives/2012/06/20/bio-2012-everything-america-invents-act/ http://www.patentbaristas.com/archives/2012/06/20/bio-2012-e...

by cletus 14y ago

statusgraph 14y ago

My (limited) understanding is you can still argue prior art to invalidate the patent. First to file would only come up if both SpaceX and a Chinese company had patents and went to court. The wiki article expounds a little: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leahy-Smith_America_Invents_Act#First_to_file_and_grace_period http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leahy-Smith_America_Invents_Act...

enraged_camel 14y ago
>>First to file would only come up if both SpaceX and a Chinese company had patents and went to court. If they went to court in the same country, you mean.
- _k 14y ago
  I've seen companies enter into a partnership with a Chinese company to manufacture niche products. A few years in, the partnership is stopped and the Chinese company copies everything, shows up on trade shows, etc. There's nothing you can do about it. Patents don't matter in China. Customers buy the products in China.

Tuna-Fish 14y ago

First to file doesn't work like that. Their patent would be struck down on prior art if they ever tried to use it.

anonymouz 14y ago
If they keep it secret, it's usually not considered prior art (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior_art https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior_art).
- sehugg 14y ago
  Apparently the Leahy-Smith Act allows trade secrets to be used as a patent infringement defense in some cases (IANAL): http://www.patentbaristas.com/archives/2012/06/20/bio-2012-everything-america-invents-act/ http://www.patentbaristas.com/archives/2012/06/20/bio-2012-e...