brnstnd@kramden.acf.nyu.edu (Dan Bernstein) (10/23/90)
In article <BZS.90Oct20184456@world.std.com> bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein) writes: > >I'm not a lawyer, but it is true that you can't patent an idea that's > >been discussed before in a public forum (e.g, USENET). That is, to be > >patent-able, it must have *never* been available in published form. > I believe that (at least) that last sentence is not true. Apparently > you have up to a year after publication to file a patent. You do---in the United States. No other country allows patents after publication, to my knowledge. So the Japanese can use compress. :-( In any case, the point that the first poster was trying to make is correct: once Joe Shmoe has published X, nobody can patent X---except maybe Joe, but only within a year, and only in the US. That doesn't mean you can assume that a published result is unpatented, since patents are kept secret during the several-year approval process. ---Dan
lwh@harmonica.cis.ohio-state.edu (Loyde W Hales) (10/23/90)
In article <26987:Oct2220:27:1490@kramden.acf.nyu.edu> brnstnd@kramden.acf.nyu.edu (Dan Bernstein) writes: >In article <BZS.90Oct20184456@world.std.com> bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein) writes: >You do---in the United States. No other country allows patents after >publication, to my knowledge. Question: what are the definitions of "patent" and "publication" in this sentence? Specifically, suppose I file for a patent under US law. According to treaty, as I understand it, once awarded the patent is recognized by "all" countries. (Is this accurate?) This being much like the Bourne (sp?) convention with copyrighting. If I file for a patent, though, it could take several years to be awarded. In fact, in the US this is not too unusual, I understand. Does this mean I can't use my product after filing for a patent until it is awarded without losing my international claims? Afterall, it would be used (published) before the patent was awarded. Somehow this sounds wrong. -- Department of Computer and Information Science Loyde W. Hales, II The Ohio State University lwh@cis.ohio-state.edu 2036 Neil Avenue Mall, Columbus, Ohio 43210
brnstnd@kramden.acf.nyu.edu (Dan Bernstein) (11/04/90)
In article <85118@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> Loyde W Hales <lwh@cis.ohio-state.edu> writes: > In article <26987:Oct2220:27:1490@kramden.acf.nyu.edu> > brnstnd@kramden.acf.nyu.edu (Dan Bernstein) writes: > >You do---in the United States. No other country allows patents after > >publication, to my knowledge. > Question: what are the definitions of "patent" and "publication" in this > sentence? Submitting the patent application, and publishing in the sense of copyright. > Does this mean I can't use my product after filing for a patent until it is > awarded without losing my international claims? Once you've filed an application, you can do whatever you want. ---Dan