Tag Info

There is a history of "giving away patents", which allows the original grantor to foster innovation instead of stifle it. Here are some examples: Sealand Industries - ISO Shipping Container Patented the standard shipping container, then gave away the patent royalty free, allowing a revolution in ocean going shipping. Annually it is estimated that $440 ...

Producing or selling the invention are not the only ways to establish prior art. A simple publication detailing the invention would also suffice, from a strictly legal perspective (the publication qualifies as prior art under 35 USC 102). It is possible that the USPTO (specifically, the Examiner responsible for finding prior art to reject another ...

Publish Your Invention In theory, any reasonably-findable publication should work just as well as actually getting a patent in terms of establishing prior art to prevent the issuance of another patent on the invention. Practice, however, is not always ideal. Judging from my experience patenting inventions, the patent examiners aren't always the best at ...

Many patent applications do not publish until 18 months after they are filed, but can be used as prior art as of their filing date. Therefore, it's not possible to find all the potential prior art that could be used against an application (assuming it hasn't been filed yet, or was filed in the last 18 months). Further, even if all the potential prior art ...

Prior art status has nothing to do with the specific inventor having access to the reference. It does have to do with the public having access. At least in the U.S., there is much splitting of hairs over whether or not something qualifies as prior art. The example often given is the single dusty copy of a thesis in a little-used language shelved in an ...