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Questions tagged [law]

Questions about patent laws and their implementation

127 questions
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Does looking at prior art searches pose a risk for engineers?

Due to triple damage provisions of patent law, for knowingly violating a patent, many companies bar engineers from visiting the USPTO site or looking at any patents. Do these sites which help with online patent searches also pose a similar risk for…
Jim Wallace
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What is functional claiming, and how does it affect the interpretation of a claim?

I've seen the term, and it seems to influence how claims are interpreted, but most of what I've read on the subject (IANAL!) rapidly gets confusing. Can anyone provide a good definition of what it is and what it means for patent interpretation?
carmogy
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How to use expired patents when designing a product?

Patent 5,636,276 will be expiring in 2015, assuming my math is correct. The patent, which covers distributing music digitally, has been used very effectively to get royalties from many companies, recently Spotify when it came to the U.S. My thinking…
Paul
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A patent specifies 'music', which is really 'packaged digital information', but how would a court interpret it?

Patent 5,636,276 describes a process for digitally distributing 'music' - it specifically uses that word. Does this mean that the patent applies exclusively to the distribution of music? Would it not apply to video? Or what if the video has music in…
Paul
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3
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2 answers

Can I produce and sell an already patented product?

Let's say that I had an idea, which I soon turned into reality but then discovered that it is patented already... So the question is: Can I still legally sell my product although it is patented by someone else? If not, I have an important follow up…
Nick
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2
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Making a patent number underage,

I have a friend that has invented an idea but he is under 18, So can he make a patent number on his name?
java-love
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Is Jury Nullification valid in patent cases?

I was a bit puzzled by part of Newegg's patent case history: Remarkably, the judge overseeing the case ruled during trial that the jury wouldn't be allowed to make a decision about Newegg's arguments that the patent was invalid. That line of…
Ben Brocka
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Name of the Procedure to transfer 3rd party patent rights to myself

My company's former contractor stole confidental information from me and filed a patent for it. I had filed a patent for the same invention but few months before him. USPTO issued final rejection for the contractors patent application due to the…
Miko Filppula
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1 answer

Ph.D student to file a patent without any contribution of the uni

I'm a Ph.D. student, and recently in my research I came up with an algorithm that would save the use of multiple transmitters to one transmitter. My co-supervisor believes it's a patent and he wants to file for one. Unfortunately, he was trying to…
Diana
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transfer of patents

What happens if Company A has acquired Company B, during which the patents need to be assigned from Company A to Company B. The signature for this assignment for both the companies has been done by the same person. What are the laws governing this?
avi
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How to prevent the usage of my idea if the patent is rejected?

How do I protect my idea if my patent is rejected? The patent clerk has my idea now, and he can probably write one up... how do I deal with that?
Cyan Crane
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Is my patent still valid if someone appends minute changes to it?

If I invent some earth-shaking (not literally) device, and someone issues a competing patent that adds something that doesn't really change the function of the device all that much, is my original patent still valid with the appropriate judicial…
Cyan Crane
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Why is a list of patents often preceded with text like "covered by *one or more* of the following patents"?

Whenever I see a product containing a list of patents, the list is almost always preceded by text similar to the following (emphasis added): Covered by one or more of the following patents... Why is the text "one or more" necessary, and what…
bwDraco
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What is the procedure to use the patent as a reference for our presentation in a conference?

In reference to the patent: US20110209929
Jijo
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