Re: [oc] Patents and their applicability

[Marko Mlinar <markom@opencores.org>]

> Here is a quote from the "IP Australia" web site
> (http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/what_index.shtml) in relation to the
> question "What is a Patent?"
>
>   "A patent is legally enforceable and gives the owner
>    the exclusive right to commercially exploit the
>    invention for the life of the patent."
>
> Here is the corresponding quote from the USPTO
> (http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/howtopat.htm):
>
>   "A U.S. patent for an invention is the grant of a
>    property right to the inventor(s), issued by the
>    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The right conferred
>    by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute
>    and of the grant itself, "the right to exclude others
>    from making, using, offering for sale, or selling"
>    the invention in the United States or "importing"
>    the invention into the United States."
>
>
> See the difference?  In Australia, patents only cover commercial
> activity.  Hence provided I don't exploit it commercially, it
> is legal for me to design and build anything.  In the US, it
> seems to be illegal to build or use a patented invention for
> any reason.
>
> It strikes me that this second position is evil, striking
> at the heart of the pursuit of knowledge.  Fair enough you
> can't set up a business in competition to a patent holder,
> but to rule out ANY use of an invention (learning, research,
> teaching, ...)  Have I missed something in my interpretation
> of the two patent systems?

I completely agree...

> That is, it varies from country to country.
I think most (if not all) european countries have similar to Australian patent 
strategy.

I think that major differencies between patent offices lies elsewhere:
- the European patent offices are far more strict than US patent office, where 
you can patent anything. For example in our country and most European you 
cannot patent a method or algorithm; just for example machine or automata.
- US patent does not check a lot if patent is valid at all. I heard somewhere 
that more than 50% of patents are invalid. There are some sites on the web, 
which list unvalid patents. But still it is all about money. If you/your 
company do not have enough to go onto the court you will loose even if patent 
is not valid...
- the patent strategy (extending, issuing, ...) and valid times also differ. 
These things are also quite important, however I don't know all the details.

hope it helps,
Marko



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