Topband: New style 1.8MHz antenna

[Garry Shapiro]

Ford:

Gary is correct. Also, one needs to understand that the volume of patent
applications is huge, the USPTO has only a finite number of examiners, the
portion of the application that is "unique" may be limited/subtle, patents
commonly contain many claims in an attempt to cover all possible areas of
application (and possible infringement) and the issuance of a patent is
itself not the last word.

There are two primary defenses against a charge of infringement:

* the patented work must not be "obvious to one skilled in the art." One
would be amazed at some of the things that have resulted in issuance of
patents!

* the existence of "prior art"---previous work that challenges the
uniqueness of the work protected by patent. Many patents stand only because
no one found an incnentive to challenge---e.g. no apparent commercial value.
Many fall when challenged. The applicant's attorney may not have dug as
deeply to find prior art as the defendant's attorney in a subsequent action.
Great battles tend to be fought when the commercial value is perceived as
high.

I know this from personal experience.

Garry, NI6T

-----Original Message-----
From: topband-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:topband-bounces at contesting.com]On Behalf Of K9AY
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2004 9:56 PM
To: Ford Peterson; topband at contesting.com
Subject: Re: Topband: New style 1.8MHz antenna


Ford,

A patent can be gotten for anything that is "unique" -- with a good attorney
and enough desire, some unique characteristic can be found for just about
anything. There is no requirement that the invention be "new science" or
even that it works at all.

Whether a particular invention is worthy of patent protection is first
decided by the inventor who thinks his/her work is important, followed by
the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), then the marketplace and
potential competitors.

In this case -- as with many patents -- one can make essentially the same
item with slightly different construction that does not infringe on the
patent.

73, Gary
K9AY
____________

Can somebody please explain how a guy can get a patent on a shortened 1.8
MHz vertical?

See this article at EE Times...

http://www.eet.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=21600147

Ford-N0FP
ford at cmgate.com




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