Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #07009
To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: "John A. deVries II" zozzles@lanl.gov
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 15:34:33 -0600
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Patent (was: Tilden on PBS)
At 06:11 AM 10/22/99 , robmc@acay.com.au wrote:
>The patent expired a year ago or so. Check here....
>
>http://patent.womplex.ibm.com/
Wow! IBM has certainly improved that site. Yepper, they say the patent is:
> E1: Expired four(4) years after the initial issue date.
The initial issue date was June 28, 1994 so they are claiming it expired in
June of 1998. Mere expiration isn't the final word, though:
>All utility patents which issue from applications filed on and after
>December 12, 1980 are subject to the payment of maintenance fees which must
>be paid to maintain the patent in force. These fees are due at 3-1/2, 7-1/2
>and 11-1/2 years from the date the patent is granted and can be paid without
>a surcharge during the "window-period" which is the six month period
>preceding each due date, e.g., 3 years to 3 years and six months, etc.
>
>Failure to pay the current maintenance fee on time may result in expiration
>of the patent. A 6-month grace period is provided when the maintenance fee
>may be paid with a surcharge. The grace period is the 6-month period
>immediately following the due date.
Mark thus had until December, 1998 to pay the maintenance fee. That really
wasn't all that long ago -- we don't actually know how up-to-date the IBM
information is and the fee (with surcharge) may have been paid before the
Very Last Day -- and the True Scoop may not have trickled out of the Patent
Office.
So don't all you budding capitalists start putting together kits with
starry eyes full of dollars (yen? marks? krone? francs? etc.?). Instead,
just for grins, go look at the Obscure Patents Gallery
(http://patent.womplex.ibm.com/gallery).
Z
---------------------------------------------------------------
John A. deVries II
zozzles@lanl.gov
7010 Fri, 22 Oct 1999 15:43:52 -0600 [alt-beam] Oops! (was: Patent (was: Tilden on PBS)) beam@sgiblab.sgi.com "John A. deVries II" >
>The initial issue date was June 28, 1994 so they are claiming it expired
in June of 1998. Mere expiration isn't the final word, though:
>
>>All utility patents which issue from applications filed on and after
>>December 12, 1980 are subject to the payment of maintenance fees which must
>>be paid to maintain the patent in force. These fees are due at 3-1/2, 7-1/2
>>and 11-1/2 years from the date the patent is granted and can be paid without
>>a surcharge during the "window-period" which is the six month period
>>preceding each due date, e.g., 3 years to 3 years and six months, etc.
Obviously, I goofed. The due date isn't at four years, eh? So, the
expiration was December 1997 and Mark had until June of 1998 to pay the fee
with surcharge. I reckon that the IBM site is sufficiently up-to-date that
information sixteen months old is probably accurate.
I wonder what real difference it makes if/that the patent isn't in force.
z
---------------------------------------------------------------
John A. deVries II
zozzles@lanl.gov
7011 Sat, 23 Oct 1999 17:07:34 -0400 [alt-beam] Elmo's Bot's beam@sgiblab.sgi.com SG Hey all!
if you really want a treat, have Elmo send
you a pic or two of his photopoopers!
They are really kewl! Looks like Someone
took the "A" in beAm seriously!
-Don't post those pics to the list Elmo!
They're too big!
-Sparky
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