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perpetual motion...

Currently the only item required by the USPTO to exist prior to being patented is a perpetual motion machine. Other than that, a set of documentation showing clearly the intent of a patent is enough.

Even then, it is doubtful the examiners do their job, a company I once worked for was looking at building a machine to remove dust from car bodies prior to painting, and they were also on the sidelines (not embroiled in the suit itself) of a dispute over a machine that did the same job. The 'patent' holder had done nothing other than take the equipment used for washing cars (a design from the 50's & 60's) replace the cloth rollers with ostrich feathers and was awarded a patent on the whole thing. And no, they did not come up with the idea of using the ostrich feathers, that was developed almost concurrently yet independently by the automakers and the paint industry.

What needs to be recognized is the concept of 'abandonment' where a patent holder who cannot show they are either in active development of a product, in search of investors of a product for a patent or fails to defend a patent for a period of years, should be considered to have abandoned it. This BS where a company not only announces it's intentions to develop, manufacture and market a product only to be slapped with a lawsuit 5 years after it becomes a success is a joke. Most civil claims are limited in their action, especially from damages simply because most courts and law figure that if the owner hadn't cared for 3 or four years, why should the courts?

Posted by: engrmerc   Posted on: 02/12/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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