Legal Ramifications Regarding Building a Patented Device

The following was written by someone who worked in the patent office, and whose close associate currently works there.

Saturday, January 24, 2004 4:00 PM
From: name withheld.
Subject: [...] Inventions: patents & copyrights

Here are my personal opinions, offered not as legal advice (which would be prohibited). Though here say, I did seek competent counsel in formulating my ideas.

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Regarding building a patented device, including for your own limited use and education, permission or a license is needed from the owner, without exception. If the patent is modified in significant ways, no such permission is needed, but a cross-license is suggested. Patent violation can result in a monetary award for damages, especially if willful and intentional. Note that patents must be 'renewed' and be active to be enforceable. This costs the patent applicant lots of $$, while providing for the abandonment of lots of patents. So, before attempting to license, be sure the patent is alive and check when renewal fees are due. No sense in alarming the patent holder to renew a patent.

As an aside, note that obtaining a patent does not require building a prototype or understanding any theory or principle. It does generally require sufficient information for one skilled in the art to reduce it to practice. Good patent attorneys always attempt to minimally disclose patent details in order to maximize trade secrets while satisfying the patent examiner's scrutiny. Thus, many patents can prove very hard to reproduce in the real world. Presently, the patent office has reduced the quality and size of it's examining corp. and many low-quality applications are being approved. Approval rates and quality of applications vary with economic situations. Thus, now is the time to patent things which would previously have been rejected.

Unlike patents, copyrights have certain exceptions, such as fair use. Fair use exception include education, preferably where no money is exchanged and the use is limited in scope.

See http://www.patent.gov.uk/patent/benefits/

FYI: http://www.softwareprotection.com/patent.html

In answer to the question in this thread, the person offering his patent should assign a license to [the target party] certifying that he indeed is the exclusive patent owner and legally able to assign rights, and individually assumes any and all legal liability should this not be the case. A lawyer should prepare this statement.

Signed,

-- The Law Student. (-:

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NOTICE:
I hereby disclaim any and all responsibility for my comments herein and no attempt is made to offer legal advice. Be advised that the comments herein are my own opinions and not intended as legal advice.
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ADVISORY: With any technology, you take a high risk to invest significant time or money unless (1) independent testing has thoroughly corroborated the technology, (2) the group involved has intellectual rights to the technology, and (3) the group has the ability to make a success of the endeavor.

All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

"When you're one step ahead
of the crowd you're a genius.
When you're two steps ahead,
you're a crackpot."

-- Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, (Feb. 1998)

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Legal Ramifications Regarding Building a Patented Device

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