RTP-area local music and culture

[Bis "sp�ter" <thebackyardbbq AT yahoo.com>]

I was a teenage Kinkoid.

I learned the foundation of what I know about
copyright and patent law because of my
Kinko's/Copytron connection.  The little I know about
patents comes from what I learned from Xerox, formerly
Haloid, and has to do with their association with
Chester Carlson.

Carlson secured the original patent for the
xerographic process in 1942, and because he had been a
patent analyzer himself, he was well-versed on all the
ins and outs of patents.  As a result, he managed to
keep the necessary information for the most effective
design sewed up well past the expiration of the
original patent.  Quoting a paragraph from this old
article: 
http://www.spie.org/web/oer/november/nov97/cover.html

"Didn't the patent on xerography expire after 17
years? 

"There were a lot of upgrades that came along that
kept the patent pretty much in a fresh state. There
were new additions and capabilities and features that
came along in the xerographic system. . .you certainly
could build a 1959 copier, but who'd want to?" 


Rumor has it there was especial delight in depriving
IBM and Kodak of the technology since they had so
quickly and heartily dismissed Chester Carlson when he
approached them with his idea, back when he was a poor
nobody.    

When Chester was developing xerography, the thing that
made it a tough sell at the onset, but the absolute
cash cow once it was realized, was that no one else
was working on the concept while he was at it.  I
don't think Clear Channel has that aspect going for
them, so I doubt they'll be able to seal off the
technology from others--at least not in the way Xerox
held the patents for copying in a vice-grip for 'round
about 40 years.



E.

http://www.invent.org/
is a fun site that, among other things, provides
information regarding how to go about getting a
patent.




> For a patent to be granted, the patent office has to
> assess whether or not the idea is "useful, novel,
> and not obvious" at the time of the invention.  The
> patent now held by Clear Channel was issued in
> 2003.  If someone could demonstrate that the  
> technology described in the patent was already used,
> offered for
> sale, or described publicly before the patent was
> issued, then the patent could be lost.  I suppose
> you could also challenge them on the "non-obvious"
> criterion, but any of those challenges would take
> big bucks in legal fees.
> 
> Anyhow.  Here's an informative link if yr
> interested:
> 
> http://www.piercelaw.edu/tfield/ipbasics.htm
> 
> -Fikri



        
                
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