[sdiy] Circuit copying

[synth1 at airmail.net]

a) all patent does is provide a legal recourse for collecting damages as a result of a third part selling what is covered in the claims of the patent.

Now, read the above and note several critical words

- collecting
- damages
- selling
- what is claimed

So, reverse engineering a circuit and then publishing it is NOT a violation of any patent. It may be snarky, but that's about it.

b) if someone builds a circuit which is patented and uses it for THEMSELVES there is not much the patent holder can do (what 'damages' have occurred?)
c) all that "matters" are the claims at the end of the patent. All the stuff up in the front is *worthless*, patent-wise. That info is for the 
examiner, not the patent itself. For the patent to "hold up", the offending circuit has to not violate ANY of the claims. And usually, it's the very 
last claim that gets people, because the tendency is to 'throw the kitchen sink' in at then end and try to have a very far-reaching claim (I was 
involved in a Texas Instruments legal patent fight that the last claim basically invented the telephone).

d) analog synth patent were for 17 years, they are LONG expired. Most Yamaha FM patents are also expired.

e) a patent holder is not REQUIRED to collect damages, in many cases they 'patent swap'.

f) the "normal and considerate" royalty for patents is 3% of the retail price. This will vary wildly, but 3% is always the starting point. This came 
about with Sony's patent on the 1-cassette answering machine (outgoing message is on the same cassette as the incoming messages). Trust me, I lived 
patent law for 12 years at Tandy, it's quite interesting.

Paul S.
has 9 patents




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