Re: Novice needs help with crazy project

Mar 18, 2007 10 Replies
Y

Late at night, by candle light, John Fields penned this immortal opus:


>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> > Gurus,
>>>
>>> > I need your help...
>>>
>>> > I am an amateur triathlete and I'm getting ready for the start of the
>>> > triathlon season and I had this problem last year that I'm trying to
>>> > solve.
>>>
>>> > The problem is that during an open-water triathlon swim I need to skip
>>> > a stroke every so often to lift my head out of the water and site the
>>> > next turn buoy. I usually find myself off course by a few yards and
>>> > need to make corrections. This costs me time from being off course
>>> > and from skipping a stroke. So, I had this idea to take apart an old
>>> > digital camera or picture phone and mount the camera part to the back
>>> > of my head and attach the LCD part in front of my goggles.
>>>
>>> > Sound
>>>
>>> Will such a device be illegal in competition?- Hide quoted text -
>>>
>>> - Show quoted text -
>>
>>Not yet!
>
>---
>But, if it's patented, it'll be illegal for you to build one.

A one-off for personal use is allowed.


- YD.


Remove HAT if replying by mail.
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J

No, it isn\'t. Contact the USPTO if you don\'t believe me: http://www.uspto.gov/web/menu/feedback.html
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J

Yeth it is ;-)

But you may not profit from the "personal use".

There are some special cases that have been handled by additional law... for instance cable boxes, homemade, for "personal use", were legal until "theft-of-service" laws were written.

Why do you think so many schematics are labeled "for educational purposes only" ?:-)

...Jim Thompson

| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave
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J

My personal patent attorney, over lunch, during a discussion of cable-buster boxes. Many years ago, prior to the institution of theft-of-service laws.

If you were correct, why would theft-of-service laws be necessary?

...Jim Thompson

| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave
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K

Only for educational use (where the education is the patent itself).

Avoiding a license is "profiting from personal use".

They could nail them for patent infraction too. It's much easier to prosecute a criminal violation than a tort. The only thing to win in a tort would be a license fee, or perhaps the "value" of a box. ...hardly worth bothering with.

Labeling it so doesn't make it so. Try selling that "educational use only schematic" in the back of Popular Mechanics. ;-)

Keith
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C

In what country?

The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.
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C

cite?

The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.
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M

To prosecute people who tamper with the CATV physical plant, which was happening LONG before there was any scrambling equipment. I've seen photos were some dumbass hacksawed the shield off the .750" CATV trunkline. Then he connected it directly to his TV set. The high RF levels blew out the RF amp, and the 30 VAC 30 A power supply set the input circuit on fire. Most of the system went down when he opened the shield, so it wasn't very long before the damage was found. Then, the stupid SOB tried to sue the CATV company for the damage to his TV, and not having warning labels that the lines were carrying AC power.

Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I\'ve got my DD214 to prove it. Member of DAV #85. Michael A. Terrell Central Florida
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J

I did that to a neighbor's TV once... lit it off with a KW pumped into a 50' long V-beam on 2-meters ;-)

...Jim Thompson

| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave
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M

The "many years ago" could be the problem ... things have changed in the last few years. Although I hate to use Wikipedia to support a point, the "Research exemption" page does have some good references to read about:

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The relevant title can be grabbed from
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which makes it very clear that the construction of a patented device infringes the patent: "Except as otherwise provided in this title, whoever without authority makes, uses, offers to sell, or sells any patented invention, within the United States, or imports into the United States any patented invention during the term of the patent therefor, infringes the patent". There are no explicit exemptions in the title itself for research except for specific pharmaceutical-related situations. The more general research exemption (in the US) is originally from the Whittemore v. Cutter case, but this has been significantly narrowed over the years, especially in the last 5 or so.

[...]
Michael Brown Add michael@ to emboss.co.nz - My inbox is always open
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