Den 5. jan. 2006 kl. 22.15 skrev Patrice LACOUTURE (GMail):
Gonz a écrit :
I don't know this -- does a foreign company need to take out
patents in the US for their proprietary stuff?
Yes, if they want protection in the US for their proprietary
products. Our company routinely files patents in the European
Union, Japan, as well as the US of course.
Yep, and this does really not help companies worldwide to protect
their Intellectual Property. Even more so for individuals.
And once a company owns a patent portfolio filed in a bunch of well
chosen countries, it must be taken care of, and all this means big $
$$.
Europe is moving the right way in this regard.
Filing a patent in, say, China is still impractical (anyway, do you
*really* dream to sell to China?), but at least, you can protect
your invention in the countries you expect to sell it, and prevent
imports of counterfeit copies.
Bottom line: if me, as an individual, invent anything really worth
filing parents worldwide, I'd rather file it in my own country
first if I can afford it, then look for investors ready to back up
with big $$$ only to protect the invention on a wider basis!
As I patent attorney that is usually the advice I give. Private
persons rarely survive in that game. They have to learn that it is
better to own a small part of something big, than to keep all of
nothing for themselves.
The usual way if you aim world wide is to file a national
application, then find investors, publish etc.
Then have some help filing an international application within one
year claiming priority from the first date.
Then have a lot of help to file regional (like Europe) or national
applications 30 months from the first filing date.
After that you have annual fees, examinations, printing fees,
validation fees etc.
And if the patent is worth anything you can expect infringement
cases, invalidation attempts etc, but the good thing is that once a
large company infringes your patent there is a chance that an even
larger company buys the whole thing... .-)
And if you cant afford it, and cant find investors, you should at
least publish so nobody else can patent it.
DagT
