Is there a patent lawyer in the house?

[Diamond]

I have a patent question.

I have a design patent which was applied for in 2001 and granted for the UK in 2003 and Eire in 2004. I didn't apply for a worldwide patent because I didn't have $100K to spare.

My patent could be useful to me businesswise in the US. Am I too late to apply for a US patent based on my British and Irish ones?

[drkitten]

My patent could be useful to me businesswise in the US. Am I too late to apply for a US patent based on my British and Irish ones?

Yes. You can't apply for a patent in the US after it's been publically disclosed -- and foreign patents count as public disclosure.

Of course, I'm not "really" a lawyer, just someone who has gotten US patents. If you want real legal advice, you may have to end up paying for it.

[Psi Baba]

Do you really mean a design patent or a utility patent? I don't know if the terminology differs for other countries, but in the U.S., a Utility Patent is what we usually think of when we hear the word patent--it's what protects the functionality or the actual concept. A Design Patent is basically worthless as it only applies to the outward appearance and nothing else.

[Dr Adequate]

Yes. You can't apply for a patent in the US after it's been publically disclosed -- and foreign patents count as public disclosure. * head spins so fast that it comes off *