Re: Is patent description copyrighted ?

David M. Geshwind wrote:
> Roger Schlafly <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in article

> > Here is the correct quote:
> >
> >   Patents are published into the public domain as part of the terms
> > of granting the patent to the inventor. As such, they are not subject
> > to copyright restrictions.
> > http://www.uspto.gov/main/ccpubguide.htm

If you will notice, the language is pre-1976 Act language.  Today,
the public domain consists of works authored by the U.S. government
and works with expired copyrights.

> > People freely copy patents all the time. Don't sweat it. No one has
> > ever complained about it, and anyone who did would be laughed
> > out of court.

The question is not whether patents can be copied, because it is clear
that there are probably no limitations as to verbatim copying, but
rather, can portions be copied for insertion into other patents.  This
is a very different question.

But in no case, is public domain even relevant.

> While this page does say what it does, Mike Brown has pointed out that it
> is neither law nor regulation.
>
> I would agree with your "People freely copy patents ..." statement as far
> as it goes; and, that "the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent
> document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and
> Trademark Office patent file or records" is permissible for research, or
> even just curiosity. Also, that the position vis-a-vis copyright may have
> been different prior to 1976.

For any number of reasons, one of which was the necessity of a copyright
notice, which is typically missing on almost all patents, but which is
no longer necessary for copyright protection of a work.  Also, the
default was public domain, unless steps were made to protect a work, as
compared to today, where the default is copyright protection, unless
steps are made to negate such.

> However, suppose someone wants to publish a coffee-table-book entitled
> "Compendium of Wacky Patents of the 1980s and 1990s" would this activity
> require the permission of the (inventor and/or practitioner) authors of the
> patent documents? Just because you are premitted to copy these documents
> for patenting activities, does it mean you can wholesale appropriate them
> for any publishing purpose?

My view is that as long as the copying is pretty much verbatim,
then the standard copyright license would allow reproduction.
Also, absent such a license, the type of use here would cut in
favor of Fair Use much more than copying portions of a patent
in order to reduce the amount of effort required to write a patent
application.
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The preceding was not a legal opinion, and is not my employer's.
Original portions Copyright 2003 Bruce E. Hayden,all rights reserved
My work may be copied in whole or part, with proper attribution,
as long as the copying is not for commercial gain.
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Bruce E. Hayden                      [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dillon, Colorado                     [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phoenix, Arizona                     [EMAIL PROTECTED]