On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 23:55:15 +0200, Damjan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > If I'm not mistaken, if you patent a device (aparatus) you can't be so > vague in the patent wording and have to submit a prototype too... > doesn't that mean that if my device doesn't in any way resemble the > prototype I'm clear from patent infrigement?
You *are* mistaken! There is no such requirement as to submit a prototype and your device will infringe on a patent as soon as any component it uses or method it applies falls under *any* claim in the patent specification's list of claims. As to how vague and how specific a patent can be, well, patents are both specific and vague. Patent attorneys are trained to word the specification accordingly. There is no limitation on how many claims you can have in a patent application. A well drafted patent specification will have a number of claims for the same thing going from specific to vague. If the applicant is unlucky, the examiner will throw out some of the more vague claims leaving the remainder of the claims untouched. Thus the examination will become instrumental to find out just how vague you can be. It would be a very bad attorney to draft an application that is thrown out in its entirety because all claims are too vague, that simply doesn't happen. rgds benjk -- Sunrise Telephone Systems, 9F Shibuya Daikyo Bldg., 1-13-5 Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. NB: Spam filters in place. Messages unrelated to the * mailing lists may get trashed. _______________________________________________ Asterisk-Users mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
