Life of claims?

[rougie]

Hello,

Although we all know that the life of any patent at the uspto is 20 years, I have another concern about as to weather a patent can be renewed by just appending a few unique claims just before it expires.

For example, say I was granted a patent in 1990 and in 2009 I decide to further protect some of those claims so no one can use them for another 20 years. Therefore am I allowed to create a new product very similar to the original one patented in the 1990 and append a couple of new and original claims to it and re-patent it in 2009 thus allowing a better version of the original product to be patented for another 20 years.

If the 2009 patent gets granted, would the original claims included in the 1990 patent be valid and protected for another 20 years?

Thankyou all for your feedback!

With regards
Rob

[Bill Richards]

For example, say I was granted a patent in 1990 and in 2009 I decide to further protect some of those claims so no one can use them for another 20 years. Therefore am I allowed to create a new product very similar to the original one patented in the 1990 and append a couple of new and original claims to it and re-patent it in 2009 thus allowing a better version of the original product to be patented for another 20 years.

First, your hypothetical patent would have had a term of 17 years from date of issue.  Any new claims must be novel and unobvious over the earlier application disclosure.  Further, they still have the issues of on-sale and public use bars.

If the 2009 patent gets granted, would the original claims included in the 1990 patent be valid and protected for another 20 years?

No.

[rougie]

Hello Bill,

Thanks for your post.

Please excuse my ignorance, but what do you mean by:

"Further, they still have the issues of on-sale and public use bars."


Please get back!

Robert

[Bill Richards]

Among other issues, no patent will be granted on an invention that has been in public use or on sale for more than one year.  And, in most foreign countries, there is no one-year grace period.
Look here:  http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/appxl_35_U_S_C_102.htm

[rougie]

Thankyou Bill for your help.

So just to confimr what you are saying, if we go to the uspto site and search for say patent #


D557,665

we see that this patent has not been issued yet right?

So why are they still referencing to old patents such as patent # D311678 from October 1990 ?

Are these patents that modify the original patent? So if they do this every 2 or three years then in year 2010 the claims that were claimed in the D311678  patent are terminated?

Confused!

Please get back!

Robert

[still_studying]

Thankyou Bill for your help.

So just to confimr what you are saying, if we go to the uspto site and search for say patent #


D557,665

we see that this patent has not been issued yet right?

Wrong.  It was issued on December 18, 2007.

So why are they still referencing to old patents such as patent # D311678 from October 1990 ?

It was a reference that was cited as prior art, apparently by the inventor/assignee/patent practitioner since it doesn't have a little asterisk next to it.  (The ones with asterisks were ferreted out and cited by the Examiner.)

Are these patents that modify the original patent? So if they do this every 2 or three years then in year 2010 the claims that were claimed in the D311678  patent are terminated?

The "References Cited" column lists patents, publications, vague anecdotal memories, and psychically channeled knowledge from the ancient civilization of Lemuria that were cited during the prosecution of the application, either as applicant-admitted prior art or by the USPTO Examiner, Smiter of Applicants, Destroyer of Hope.

D311678 expired in October 2004.  Design patents only get 14 years.  I don't know whether this has changed at any time in the past, but it appears to have been the same since at least the time of D311678.