Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #00185
To: Michael Kennan kennanm@efn.org
From: Bob Shannon bshannon@tiac.net
Date: Thu, 04 Feb 1999 23:27:23 -0800
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: 'Schmitt trigger'
Michael Kennan wrote:
> As for the patenting issue, I was a little shocked at first: these
> circuits are in electronics books going back 30 years plus. But they had
> never been applied to robotic locomotion, and in that lies the essence of
> Tilden's patent.
I'm not quite so sure that this is correct, but this is a matter for
laywers to argue. It a motor driver a motor driver even if the motor
driver of hte first part does not move the motor itself with its torque
while the motor driver of the second part does?
Seems like leagl hair-splitting.
You can patent a new application for an existing thing, but as I
understand it your position is greatly weakened by any similar prior
use.
Protecting a specific circuit against infringement (like Radio
Electronics) is a slightly different issue however.
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