[ODE] Quickstep and patents

[Nick Winters]

On 6/7/07, Jon Watte (ODE) <hplus-ode at mindcontrol.org> wrote:
>
> > I am not a lawyer (see above), but doesnt the right to sue someone
> > vanish after a while, IF you know other ppl are using your patent
> > "illegally"? So it becomes "customary law"? Agaia knows about ODE for
> > quite a while and they didnt do anything against it.



No. That may be true for copyright, but it is not true for patents.
> Patents give you a right to an invention, much like a deed gives you the
> right to a certain plot of land. Whether you let some people use it, and
> others not, does not affect your ownership of that invention, much like
> letting some people onto your lot and keeping other people out will not
> affect your ownership of the land. This is one very important difference
> between patent law and copyright law. At least in the US. And, as far as
> I know, because I am not a lawyer.
>

Copyrights, like patents, do not need enforcement to last their full term.

Trademarks however do need to be enforced or they can be lost. For example
xerox is no longer a trademark, and relatively soon google and photoshop
will not be as well.  [Common usage of a trademark as a verb tends to weaken
the trademark]

[trademarks otherwise last
forever, copyrights essentially last forever [at least 70 years after
the author's death?
occassionally retroactively extended to keep mickey in
copyright], and patents expire "somewhat" quickly [14 years?]]

Usual I'm not a laywer specifics apply... The above two sentances are from
my understanding of US laws.
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