[Gasification] Patents

[Greg and April]

I thought patents were good for 7 years - thus the reason why pharmaceutical 
companies were always coming up with " better " medications every 5 yrs or 
so, just before " generics " hit the market.

Did they make a change, or was I misinformed in the first place?

Greg H.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Redler" <redlerm at yahoo.com>
To: "Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification" 
<gasification at listserv.repp.org>
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 7:02
Subject: Re: [Gasification] Patents


> Why would anyone think that a good idea (patented or not) could be kept
> a secret for any serious length of time? Eventually, every idea of value
> reaches the public domain, either by successful sales, word-of-mouth,
> trade publications, or public/government registration (i.e. patents,
> grants, etc.).
>
> If you know that a good idea will eventually reach the public domain,
> seeking ways to protect it is a pretty rational and logical response -
> if only in countries which enforce such protection. It's unfortunate
> that many Asian countries don't do a good job with patent enforcement.
> However, if someone focused only on the United States (for example), you
> have a demographic which could keep you in steady production for twenty
> years (the life of a patent).
>
> Mike
>
> Toby Seiler wrote:
>> Frank and list,
>>
>>   Go to the US Patent office and research those patents for yourself. 
>> While your there look around and watch the Asians doing research.  Since 
>> a patent puts the technology in the public domain, if you think they are 
>> there and being "stockpiled", do yourself a favor and go see them 
>> yourself.  Why would a workable device be put in the public domain just 
>> to wait until the protection runs out in 17 years and anybody can make 
>> it, sell it and profit from it.
>>
>>   Toby J. Seiler, STC
>>
>>
>> ---------------------------------
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