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February 2000

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Tue, 1 Feb 2000 19:07:13 -0500
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well, someone is pulling all the "stops" ... even in private sector... (BMWs)

http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,33937,00.html
http://www.sjmercury.com/business/top/034037.htm

                                jk
At 02:36 PM 2/1/00 -0000, you wrote:
>Hi All,
>
>Before anybody else jumps on the 'bash the government employees' party train
>I have questions:
>
>How would you change the whole patent process thing to make it better?
>         I thought it's purpose was to protect inventor's rights.
>How do we pay for it?
>
>I certainly didn't hire on with the Air Force because I can't compete in
>private industry.  6 years at the University of Southern California didn't
>teach me to be mediocre.  Heck, I succeeded in the nonprofit world for four+
>years but maybe I'm an exception to that rule.  (I will neither confirm nor
>deny the existence of 'driftwood' in the Federal System.  Those who know
>know and those who don't know, consider yourselves lucky.)  Rudy didn't
>intend it as a personal attack and I don't take it as one.
>
>Let me turn it around even further.  The Air Logistics Center, where I work,
>needs to hire hundreds of engineers in the next few years - EE, ME, IE,
>CE/CS.  Entry level engineers with the government make around $28k, private
>industry starts $14k above that.  We don't just need recent college
>graduates either, the average age of engineers is 46.5 with 16 years
>experience.  If you were us how would you do it?  Could you do it?
>
>We have signing bonuses, we pay the moving expenses, the area is absolutely
>gorgeous - a great place to raise the kids but no company stock options and
>no quarterly bonuses.  If we had those monetary incentives our Federal taxes
>(or the patent fees . . . ) would go up, right?
>
>Hans
>
>~~~~~~~~
>Hans M. Hinners
>Materials (& Process!) Engineer
>Warner Robins - Air Logistics Center/Avionics Production Division
>Manufacturing Branch (LYPME)
>380 Second Street, Suite 104    (Building 640)
>Robins AFB, GA  31098-1638
>912-926-1970 (Voice) 468 - 1970 (DSN)  912-926-7164 (Fax)
>mailto:[log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: <[log in to unmask]> [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>> Sent: Friday, January 28, 2000 04:38
>> To:   [log in to unmask]
>> Subject:      Re: [TN] patents
>>
>> A little insight from someone who has been in the patent trenches, and
>> understands the wars:
>>
>> First, remember that a patent is like a banner, telling the entire world
>> the
>> central, most important parts of your invention, all must be revealed, and
>> nothing remains hidden.
>>
>> NOTHING prevents someone from looking up your patent, and copying exactly
>> what you are doing.  (Except of course that it is illegal, and for many
>> people, this is a detail)
>>
>> It is your responsibility to PROVE that they are violating your patent,
>> and
>> this can take years, and a lot of money.  Patents have been called the
>> "Full
>> Employment Contract for the legal community", and this is especially the
>> case
>> in the US.
>>
>> All of the above starts to make the concept of a trade secret much more
>> appealing, UNLESS it is immediately obvious by looking at the finished
>> product that your patent is being violated.  If your patent is simply a
>> better way to arrive at the same product, you are probably better off
>> keeping
>> it a trade secret.
>>
>> Lastly, remember, the patent offices are staffed by people who cannot/do
>> not
>> want to be in the highly competitive commercial world, and the law is so
>> arcane, and archaic, that it is years behind the rest of the world.  My
>> company has abandoned patent applications simply because we could not get
>> the
>> patent office to understand the concept of what we are patenting.
>>
>> Very obvious things have been patented.  We have been sued over things
>> that
>> we thought were so obvious that they could not be patented.   In some
>> cases
>> two patents have been issued for essentially the same idea.  The patent
>> office is not full of the brightest lights in the world, and NOBODY ever
>> got
>> fired from the government for being dumb.
>>
>> Rudy Sedlak
>> RD Chemical Company
>>
>
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