Patent violations?!

[John E Blacet]

IMHO: 20 years is the patent duration. (From Filing Date, I believe...)

Patents are in the public domain as far as reproduction is concerned.
I'm not sure what trouble you would get in by publishing a circuit
derived from an active patent. Typically, if the patent holder notices
this, they may issue a warning that the commercial use of the circuit
may violate their patent rights. 

The key to understanding patents is that USE is protected, not the
information. OTOH, Trade Secret laws cover the public disclosure of
information. You would have had to sign a NDA or illegally aquired such
information to be in trouble in this case, however.

I'm not a lawyer and this advice should be taken as personal opinion
only.

Regards.
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John Blacet
Blacet Research Music Electronics
http://www.blacet.com
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blacet at metro.net
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