Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
> Filing a patent means everyone "should know" the thing's patented. After 
> all, you could have done a patent search, and the patents are all public 
> knowledge. The fact that a serious patent search costs big money doesn't 
> matter - you're still in trouble because you "should have known" you 
> were building something already patented.

  In some cases you have to know in advance.

  First person A makes an invention and uses it. Years later person B takes
this invention and patents it (as we all know, prior art is a no-op in
practice in the US patenting system). Now person B sues person A for
patent infringement. If person A can't prove that he made the invention
before it was patented, he's screwed.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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