Posted on June 19, 2024
Question:
This one is fee-related, so it’s an expired patent. Let’s read through it. I recently developed an idea and found a single patent that is basically the same exact thing. I’ve been searching all day for active products, and it appears that there isn’t one. The patent did expire because of fee-related issues, maybe because they didn’t pay their maintenance fees. You need to pay these fees at three and a half, seven and a half, and eleven and a half years to keep the patent enforceable. Can I make the payment and become the owner?
Answer:
JD: No, unfortunately, you cannot. I wish it were possible, but it can’t happen. However, here’s the upside: save your money because you can now practice and sell that exact same product without fear of being sued. That’s the big benefit. The exchange at the patent office is that you give your invention and share with the world what you’ve created, explaining how to make it and making us all smarter. In exchange, you get up to a 20-year limited monopoly to be the only one to do it.
JD: Your obligation is to maintain it by paying the administrative fees to the patent office to keep the records and enforce it federally. If someone didn’t make the payment, you can’t just pick it up because you’re not the original inventor and, therefore, not the owner. But now that it’s been published and expired, no one can come after you for going to market with that product.
JD: It expired before the 20-year term was up, so sometimes inventions don’t work out, and you have to move on to the next invention. So that’s that.
