Re: Re: ABANDON PATENTS

Subject: Re: Re: Re: ABANDON PATENTS

Comments:
: Some interesting advice here, but I am not sure if I agree with any of it. : To begin with, Trademarks indicate the source of goods or services, nothing more. You cannot "protect" the underlying product with a trademark - only the indication of the source of the product. : If someone wants to copy a public domain product, they are free to do so, and changing the "mark" on the product is not that difficult. : Again (and repeat this like a mantra) Trademarks indicated the source of goods or services. Yes, I could make a lot of money getting you a Federal registration on a mark. But to suggest that getting a Trademark will protect the underlying _product_ is disingenuous. : See my article on the subject at: : http://users.starpower.net/robertbell.marksee/articles/trademark.html : As you can see, I do not believe individual inventors should waste much time on Trademarks unless they are actually putting goods in the stream of commerce (or have a bona fide intent to do so). : And by the way, Trademarks are not "forever" either. The strength of your mark is directly proportional to your USE of the mark in commerce. If you stop using the mark (or never use it to begin with) your trademark rights (common law or Federal Registration) can evaporate. Petitions to cancel old unused marks happen all the time. Filing a Federal Registration without using the mark in commerce or having a bona fide intent to use is fraud. : To answer your ACTUAL question (which I don't recally having anything to do with Trademarks) a Patent does not become "abandoned" in the lexicon of Patent Law, it EXPIRES. Patents expire for two reasons. First, their term ends (17 years from the date of issue under the old law, 20 years from the date of filing under the new). Second, they can expire for failure to pay maintenance fees. : It is not difficult to determine whether a Patent has expired at the end of its term. For older Patents, just calculate 17 years from the date of issue. For Patents issued under the new act, calculate 20 years from the date of filing. Very few of the 20 year patents will have reached the end of their term yet, unless the attorney prosecuting the case fell into the malpractice trap of filing an FWC (see my posting on sueing your attorney). : But beware, though. Other Patents may be held by the same party (or others) covering other aspects of the same technology. Be certain that ALL aspects of your invention are "public domain" including the method of making, improvements, etc. before proceeding. : Exipration for failure to pay maintenance fees is a bit trickier. Under the law, the applicant has a 6 month window to pay the maintenance fee before it is due, or 6 months after it is due, with a late fee. Even after this 6 month time period, the applicant can petition to reinstate a Patent on unavoidable grounds (difficult, but not impossible). : So it is not always easy to determined whether a Patent has truly expired for failure to pay maintenance fees. The good news is, if you act in reliance of a Patent being expired, and it is later revived under an unavoidable expiration Petition, you may be able to avoid or limit infringement damages under the Statute, as you had acted in reliance of the Patent being expired. : I think that was what your question was really about, no? : NOTE: It is not clear from your posting whether these Patents were held by your employer (is "my small company" your company or a company you work for?) If the latter, this creates a minefield of other potential issues. Your employment agreement (if applicable) may prevent you from opening up shop and selling competing products, regardless of whether the Patents have expired. Also, as an employee, you may have had access to unpatented Trade Secrets (which really ARE forever, and CAN cover the underlying product). If setting up a competing shop to your employer is your goal, expect to get sued, regardless of whether the Patents have Expired. Consult an Attorney! : Regards, : --Bob.

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