Patents, did you know

In the U.S. patent system, if maintenance fees (required at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years for $1,600, $3,600 and $7,400, respectively) are not paid, an issued patent goes into the public domain .

Great article and link to public domain patent database search found here;

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Yep, that’s one of the reasons patents are sometimes called the sport of kings.

I have my name on a few patents as an inventor, but a former employer actually owns them .

@NedMan I resemble that remark (8,255,362; 8,255,363). :slight_smile:

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(US7989436B2, US20070142307A1, US6660726B2, US6855703B1) I was a lead chemist in identifying novel estrogenic compounds present in hormone replacement therapy products.

That was interesting looking those up again. A couple appear to have changed hands (assignee) from who I thought owned them.

A side effect of getting your name on a patent is that you get lots of junk mail from companies wanting to sell you nice, but expensive, framed / etched patent awards for you to hang on your wall.

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…which you could do on your own with a laser cutter! :tada:

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Lol I was just considering that very thing.

And that is why I posted this thread!

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19 last I looked

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