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[mwang76]

I would like to provide a home based service in the city I live, where I advertise for businesses by sending their coupons to new home owners in my own generic coupon booklet with my own business name on it. I know this is done in other cities under other business names. What I am wondering is, if this is an idea that someone can patent, and I cannot do the same service. I assume it is not. And what if I change how the coupon booklet looks like and make it so its different from the 'patent pending' one?  The patented one could be made of sheets of paper, but mine is made of paper laminate or something?  I have no knowledge of patent law at all, but I figure, you have various PDQ shops etc that all do copying and printing, but just under their different name. They are simply competitors of the same service.  Am I correct in this assumption?

Thanks!!

[JimIvey]

Unless you're doing something that has been done exactly the same way publicly for about 21 years or so, you can always be inadvertently doing something covered by another's patent.

Just because someone else is doing the same thing or something similar, you can't assume that what you're doing doesn't infringe.

Each patent defines what constitutes infringement of the patent -- i.e., each patent is self-delimiting.  RE paper vs. laminate -- can't say without seeing the patent in question.

So, you say, "OH MY GOSH!  HOW DO I AVOID INFRINGEMENT?!  THIS IS TERRIBLE!!"

We're all in the same boat, and we deal with unquantifiable risks all day every day.  How do you know something you're doing right now isn't unnecessarily shortening your life?  Did that super cheap tea pot you bought at the little 99c store in Chinatown use lead to solder the stainless steel tea basket inside?  (Wondering that myself at the moment -- how can you sell a teapot with a SS basket inside for $1.38??)  Yet, somehow we manage to go on with our lives and try to be smart along the way.

Realistically, you can't avoid infringing all patents all the time.  It just can't be done.  Don't infringe the ones you know about and be ready to deal with any patent issues that might come to your attention along the way.

Regards.

[mwang76]

Thank you sir for your quick and thorough reply!

[mwang76]

Ok, I am having trouble on the US Patent office web site finding the Patent Pending of another, to see if what I am doing compares to their patent.  Is there any resource I can use besides the USPTO web site to search for their patent?  Perhaps they can be contacted directly?  Does it cost a lot to get this basic help from a local patent law office, if I cannot do this research alone?

If I can't find it there using their name, could it mean that it was not submitted?  Maybe it is still pending approval?  I believe they submitted the patent in 2006.

Thanks!

[JimIvey]

Not all patent applications are publicly available.  Most countries publish at 18 months from the priority date (earliest effective filing date).  In the US, applicants forgoing patent protection outside the US can "opt out" of publication altogether.

So, there are many opportunities for a pending patent application to remain unpublished and undetectable, particularly in the US.

Regards.