On Fri, Mar 19, 2004 at 12:29:52PM +0000, danilo ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
> 17 years or whatever it is, you are right: it will come to an end with time, > but they can, however, re-patent it, I think... No, same invention cannot be patented again, they'll have to come up with something new and even then it won't prevent others from using the old stuff. That 17 years (now its 20) is actually the maximum time, patent can expire sooner if not actively maintained by paying yearly (or something) fee to patent office. > But I can remember one ilarious thing, some years ago, the patent on > the logo of a French (IIRC) right-wing political party was expired > and they don't re-acquire it suddenly. Instead a left-wing satiric > magazine did it, and they produced an hygienical paper with the logo > printed on it. That wouldn't have been a patent, as logos cannot be patented, but with trademark that could have happened. -- Tapani Tarvainen * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
