[sdiy] Circuit copying

[Finlay Shakespeare]

Just dropping in to say thanks everyone who's shed some light on this. These 
issues have had me wondering quite a lot recently, especially seeing as I'm 
thinking of building and maybe selling some old E&MM circuits (I have the 
Synbal and Syntom in mind). I can't find anything about "Kenneth McAlpine" 
on the interweb so getting in touch to ask permission will be tricky. I'd 
definitely like to ensure I have permission before I started manufacturing 
published works, etc. even if they were originally intended to be built by 
many hobbyists. However, I would be designing my own PCBs (I've seen a 
couple on the internet for both circuits, but they're not *my* type of PCB) 
so going that way should be safer than simply copying everything.

> d) Most Yamaha FM patents are also expired.
Why anyone would want to copy those is beyond me.... :P

Cheers,
Finlay Shakespeare
http://www.futuresoundsystems.co.nr


--------------------------------------------------
From: <synth1 at airmail.net>
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 2:24 PM
To: <synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl>
Subject: [sdiy] Circuit copying

> 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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>
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