There have, however, been a few inspiring cases in which small
inventors have won HUGE damages. In one case, a mechanic won big bucks
from Sears, which had infringed on his patent for a certain kind of
Craftsman tool. The infringement was, as I recall, quite deliberate
and cynical, as the fellow had more or less designed the tool for the
company specifically. He won quite a lot.
In another case, a small inventor won a judgment against all the auto
makers, who had used his wiper-relay circuit without paying royalties.
To win, though, these fellows had to fight for years and years;
persistence can pay off. But I believe other list members are
correct that many patents are of no value to anyone, and would not hold
up in court.
JBB
On Tuesday, Jun 1, 2004, at 20:09 Asia/Tokyo, Ode Coyote wrote:
...
Patents used to say, very near the top,
........ "forbids all others from making, selling, or using".
Sounds like a drug company and the fed when they extract and control a
substance that's been used for millenia.
CS pro has a patent on a circuit that's been in every engineers head
and
text book since vaccuum tubes.
Another CS generator maker has "invented" current control.
I know of a company that has patented magnetic stripe / computer
interfaces. I'm sure all the banks, police with laptops in their cars,
DMVs and stores are scared.
I'm pretty sure you can patent nearly anything.
Most ideas I do a search on yeilds about 1,800 patents
Really, unless the design is totally unique, a design patent is only
good
for an excuse to take someone to court. It's no guarantee of a win.
Then change one little knob....
Case in point.. PC clones. {Do you use an IBM PC?}
Ode
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