I should not be talking about my boring work on my time off. If life was fair, computer programmers would be more popular than rock stars.
AG - I have nothing against patent attorney's as we have used them before, but it is the patent office that has made it way to easy for someone to get a patent for something like a cup of water. In the tech industry, it is not until after you create a product that you find out that someone already holds a patent on a concept that your product uses. And even if you had that concept in your product before the patent, you still have to spend countless legal fees to prove prior art. The worst one in my specific business is that there is a patent on storing a fax on the hard drive of a computer. And the entity that holds that patent will only choose to enforce it when other companys reach a certain level of profit. Why the patent office granted this obvious concept is not justified. For all we know, this very web site could be violating a patent and Michelle may need to dig deep in her wallet in the future.
I have gone to the batting cages the last 3 days and am starting to dream of playing in the majors. I wonder if there has ever been someone 48+ years old that were called up to the majors as a rookie.
KK- The St Paul Saints (International League BBall) had a 47 yo rookie pitcher this year. He was a knuckleballer. So there is hope......:)
Me: 44 S: 17 and 7 Final-6-13-08 I once went to a psychic who told me I would soon feel cheated......
I smiled when I saw your post. I was going to post to you about whether you had consulted a patent attorney.
Up until last spring - it was easy to get a patent for a cup of water. I myself have argued to get such patents allowed. The Supreme Ct got very annoyed with us patent attorneys and re-defined the definition of obvious to where nothing appears to be patentable right now...and that has thrown my profession into a state of disarray... The cup of water standard no longer applies in the US. I use to have a 100% success rate with the patents I argued. I have not had a single software patent allowed since last spring.
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In the tech industry, it is not until after you create a product that you find out that someone already holds a patent on a concept that your product uses. And even if you had that concept in your product before the patent, you still have to spend countless legal fees to prove prior art.
I know... That is where strategy comes in...
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The worst one in my specific business is that there is a patent on storing a fax on the hard drive of a computer.
I am going to assume that the scenario you have described is a hypothetical situation that you are presenting to me for comment. There are strategies available to counter such situations - but you will need a good patent attorney that has experience beyond just drafting patents. There are differences in how you approach this problem based on whether you are a big corporation or a smaller company. But unfortunately it costs money.
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And the entity that holds that patent will only choose to enforce it when other companys reach a certain level of profit.
The law requires that if an entity finds out that someone is infringing a patent - they must inform the infringing party within a "reasonable" period of time. If they wait till the other side makes profits and then sue - the courts typically will not award the profits to the patent holder. And it is possible that the patent may even be deemed unenforceable against that party..not a 100% on where the law is today on this.
Now that being said - we probably should not talk about hypotheticals here. I prefer that even hypothetical discussions occur in an environment where there is attorney/client privilege.
The storing of a fax on the hard drive is indeed a valid patent and we paid some big bucks to have the right to use it. On the plus side, we used to pay royaltys for the LZW compression (used in things like gif file) and fortunately 17 years has now expired.
I am glad that you were able to resolve things and while you had to pay - your business was not shut down.
Us patent attorneys are a paranoid bunch. Part of my job is to characterize and protect documents/discussion so that in the event of litigation - I can protect my client's data from discovery requests from opposing counsel.
I was not sure where you were in the process - that is why I referred to your situation as a hypothetical. I did not mean to imply that you were making up things.
I had a nice meetup with a new G39 tonight. She is very nice. Small world too as her uncle has been good friends for a long time with my cousin. Portland is not that big of town after all.
I'm assuming "Girl, age 39". But I know what "ASSUME" means - LOL!
Kerri,
Good luck. I started venturing out about a year after ex lived. Some thought it was BAD since the D was not yet final. But when your walkaway lives with OP and the D is in the works - not much chance it's going to change. And I hope things go well for you.
