On Jul 1, 2007, at 11:59 AM, Paul Lowrance wrote:
Are you saying that if the inventor freely publishes it on the web that it can actually prevent the inventor from obtaining a patent, but anyone else can obtain a patent on the invention???
Not necessarily anyone else. If someone else files and can be proven to have had complete knowledge of prior art and fails to make note of such art, assuming some publication or data exists in print, for the examiner's use, then their application can be invalidated, and worse.
If true (God help the silly government) then how about the inventor getting a family member to obtain to patent?
Getting someone other than the inventor to pose as the inventor is clearly fraud. Further, if it happens, or any other type of fraud relating to the patent, and the invention is sold, there are some severe civil remedies and penalties. See:
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/consolidated_laws.pdf page L68. Regards, Horace Heffner
