[ale] OT: sort of it is about OSS

[Alex Carver]

I suspect there are some subtleties that change the final length of the 
patent.  I need to double check my paperwork but I recall it said that 
my patent would be seven years.

On 2/15/2013 15:36, Pete Hardie wrote:
> I just sat through a patent presentation at work, and they were saying
> patents were 20 years -
>
> from uspto.gov:
>
> How long does patent protection last?
> ------------------------------
>
> For applications filed on or after June 8, 1995, utility and plant patents
> are granted for a term which begins with the date of the grant and usually
> ends 20 years from the date you first applied for the patent subject to the
> payment of appropriate maintenance fees. Design patents last 14 years from
> the date you are granted the patent. Note: Patents in force on June 8 and
> patents issued thereafter on applications filed prior to June 8, 1995
> automatically have a term that is the greater of the twenty year term
> discussed above or seventeen years from the patent grant.
>
>
> Pete Hardie
> --------
> Better Living Through Bitmaps
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 15, 2013 at 6:24 PM, Alex Carver <agcarver+ale at acarver.net>wrote:
>
>> On 2/15/2013 11:48, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
>>
>>> I can see both sides of the fence.  I tend to think software patents
>>> should be eliminated or severely curtailed.  Things like virtual lab
>>> test instruments muddy the waters, where, the instrument IS the
>>> software program, and it's just attached to a bit of I/O conditioning
>>> circuits.  I tend to think patents should be substantially reduced in
>>> the modern world.
>>>
>>
>> How much more do you want them to be reduced?  They've been reduced in
>> lifespan twice already.  Early on patents could be renewed indefinitely in
>> increments of around 10 years (maybe 12, I have to go look again). Then the
>> renewal was limited to once.  Now patents are good for seven years with no
>> renewals permitted.
>>
>> In addition, there are two types of patent filing methods in the US and
>> the choice determines your protection status overseas.  If you file a
>> regular patent without disclosing anything ahead of time, you get seven
>> years of patent protection and the patent is recognized overseas and can be
>> fought overseas.  However, if you go with an alternate route of a
>> provisional patent, you forfeit the overseas protection in favor of rapidly
>> acquiring (rapid being about a month instead of a year or more) US-only
>> protection for one year while still filing the regular patent.
>>
>> I've gone through this process once already and am doing it again shortly
>> at least twice more.  Shorter than seven years does not make the cost and
>> headache of even the patent process worth it.  It took nearly a whole year
>> with lots of letters, filings, signatures, rebuttals, and a handful of
>> patent attorneys to get one through.  Total expense so far is approaching
>> $50,000 just for the cost of acquiring the patent.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ______________________________**_________________
>> Ale mailing list
>> Ale at ale.org
>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/**listinfo/ale<http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale>
>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/**listinfo<http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo>
>>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>