Copyright/Patent Law Question

Firedragon_4

is one thing, patents are something else.

I don't know much about patents so I can't say.

I'm working on an infringement case right now! From what I'm reading on the Internet and my lawyers are telling me only idiots and arrogant stupid corporations try going around copyrights. In every case of copyright infringement that goes before the federal judges, the original author wins, FACT! The good news for those of us who write for a living is that that has been the case since day one.

I can't wait for this to come to a head, and many of you here will be surprised, very surprised and I also believe terribly disappointed.

Steve Minnich_1

Copyright/Patent Law Question

Just curious how these rules work. I know it occurs in every industry, but it seems to be the rule rather than the exception in ours. How can a product be manufactured under a given name and be just a slightly cheapened up version of the original, without breaking any law?

I thought about this because of the posts I read about the plate vs. plateless issue. Radiant Engineering has had very similar spinoffs of thier C-Fin in the past, what, 4-5 years. And other products I see copied or are copies themselves, I really don't know-Danfoss's ZCPs, Weil Mclain's PAP, Stadler Viega's Climate Panel, Wirsbo's hePex, Spirovent, Space Pak AC, Hot Rod's Isoflange; the list is endless.

If its that easy, nobody would ever have to have an original thought again, just lots of money to manufacture someone else's.

Hows that commercial go? "Often imitated, never duplicated."

Just wondering.

Steve Minnich, Radiant Comfort Systems

Mad Dog

I agree.......................

They look at it this way: "we'll get away with it as long as we can...and when we get caught , we'll fold." Mad Dog

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Mike T., Swampeast MO

Individuals may always win Copyright cases, but entities like the American Society of Composers, Authors and Producers (ASCAP) have some problems. States sue them regularly (they've been kicked out of MO at least twice), composers/authors sue them claiming that they force them to become "members" to receive ANY sort of compensation for use of their copyright and that the "and Producers" portion gets WAY more than their share...

Steve Minnich_1

Firedragon

You really have me wondering now.

Steve Minnich, Radiant Comfort Systems

gerry gill

for a patent of your own,

all you have to do is change one detail, now yours is different.

Firedragon_4

Music comes under

a very peculiar situation since most of it is some form of 'derivative work'. Melodies, words, notes are unique, but the combinations are not. If the words are taken from certain works like the Bible or works such as Shakespeare's it can get a bit crazy.

What I'm talking about is 'copyrighted written text' that has been not only taken within the copyrighted verbatim, but also word-for-word. What makes it even worse is that although it is true that wiring and piping diagrams are not eligible for copyright, per se, the format in which they were drawn is.

What I'm talking about is the unauthorized use of an author's sweat and sinew and intellectual property.

What I'm talking about is THEFT!

jerry scharf_2

I never played a lawyer on TV

but I have too many brushes with "intelectual property" over the last dozen years.

My understanding of the current state of the patent office is if it's not a flagrent duplication, they issue the patent. Then the rest get sorted out in civil court as people sue each other for patent infringement. It's a whole lot of abuse, and the lawyers and people with muscle usually win financially no matter what.

As for changing something, you can get a new patent for improving on another patent, but you are still required to pay royalties on the base patent it's built on should you manufacture a product using it.

Finally, I haven't read the patents in question, but I doubt they are broad like "using aluminum transfer plates in radiant heated floors." There's just too much prior art to imagine that such a claim would hold up in court. Once it's not so broad, there are enough ways to skin this cat to allow people to make things that compete, even with each having patents.

jerry