How do the patent office know if something has been kept secret or not?
957466
I'm a patent attorney.  The following answer pertains to United States patents, but the situation regarding patents is similar in other countries.  This is a very general answer, and doesn't go into specifics or exceptional situations.  You should NOT take this as legal advice.  In fact, you should never try to obtain a patent without retaining the services of a qualified patent practitioner.\n\nThe patent office doesn't contact people to find out if they know about your invention.  They do a search of published documents of all sorts to see if anyone has already taught your claimed invention, or whether there is enough information already known to make your invention obvious.  If they can't find evidence that your claimed invention is anticipated or obvious, you'll probably be able to patent your invention.\n\nHowever, if someone knows or finds out that you weren't the real inventor, or that people knew about your invention before you applied for a patent, they could go to court and try to invalidate one or more claims of your patent.  (There are a great many other grounds on which a patent can be attacked, but I think you're just interested in these issues.) A U.S. patent (but not patents issued by most other countries) could still be valid even if you revealed your invention to other people before you applied for the patent, as long as your invention wasn't known to the public more than a year before you filed your application.\n\nTo answer your second question, if your claimed invention includes a feature that is significantly different or an improvement over an old invention (or a previously known invention), then yes, you can get a patent on the new or improved invention.  However, your patent would only cover products that included that improvement or novel feature.
902958
excellent.i have been wondering this for years(serously)If i ever prove this plz dont compete with me for patent.i think we can share the reward.
208399
Do a search at the Patent and Trademark office to see if the name has been trademarked. \n\nHowever, if they never registered the name, it will not be listed there. That being said, if they haven't registered their name, then chances are they won't have the lawyers to do anything about it.
119230
This is tricky. The company may lie to you (like Yang Incorporated does) and say they don't have it. But they probably do have it stored somewhere. You should contact an IP attorney.
882922
Tell nobody. If something is known by two, it is definitely not a secret...
219570
Prove, patent and present
184607
Print this out and use it:\nhttp://www.secretservice.gov/counterfeit.shtml
632921
First IANAL\n\nDated public disclosure starts the patent clock running, and can prevent someone else from patenting your business idea. By the same token, it also allows anyone, anywhere to take your business idea and run with it.\n\nPublic disclosure of an idea in and of itself is not grounds for a lawsuit should someone copy it. A verbatim copy may be grounds for a copyright violation in the US, but perhaps not anywhere else. In addition, I believe the yahoo answers TOS addresses the issue that you give up copyright when you use this site.\n\nYou could patent business processes within 1 year of public disclosure in the US. However, unless you have substantial funding to go after someone infringing on the idea, it is best to just keep quiet about such matters.
323836
CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT\nTHIS AGREEMENT governs the disclosure of information by and between Alpha and Beta as of ________________________(the "Effective Date")."\n1. Definition Of Confidential Information\nAs used herein, "Confidential Information" shall mean any and all technical and non-technical information related to ___________________________ provided by either party to the other, including but not limited to (a) patent(s) and patent applications, (b) trade secret, and (c) copyrighted information (d) proprietary information-- ideas, techniques, sketches, drawings, works of authorship, models, inventions, know-how, processes, apparatuses, equipment, algorithms, software programs, software source documents, and formulae related to the current, future, and proposed products and services of each of the parties, and including, without limitation, their respective information concerning research, experimental work, development, design details and specifications, engineering, financial information, procurement requirements, purchasing, manufacturing, customer lists, investors, employees, business and contractual relationships, business forecasts, sales and merchandising, marketing plans and information the disclosing party provides regarding third parties.\n2. Identification Of Confidential Information\nIf the Confidential Information is embodied in tangible material (including without limitation, software, hardware, drawings, graphs, charts, disks, tapes, prototypes and samples), it shall be labeled as "Confidential" or bear a similar legend. If the Confidential Information is disclosed orally or visually, it shall be identified as such at the time of disclosure.\n3. Exceptions To Confidential Information\nEach party's obligations under this Agreement with respect to any portion of the other party's Confidential Information shall terminate when the party to whom Confidential Information was disclosed (the "Recipient") can document that: (a) it was in the public domain at the time it was communicated to the Recipient by the other party; (b) it entered the public domain subsequent to the time it was communicated to the Recipient by the other party through no fault of the Recipient; (c) it was in the Recipient's possession free of any obligation of confidence at the time it was communicated to the Recipient by the other party; (d) it was rightfully communicated to the Recipient free of any obligation of confidence subsequent to the time it was communicated to the Recipient by the other party; (e) it was developed by employees or agents of the Recipient independently of and without reference to any information communicated to the Recipient by the other party; (f) the communication was in response to a valid order by a court or other governmental body, was otherwise required by law, or was necessary to establish the rights of either party under this Agreement; or (g) it was not identified as Confidential Information of the disclosing party in accordance with Section 2.\n4. Handling Of Confidential Information\nEach party agrees that at all times and notwithstanding any termination or expiration of this Agreement it will hold in strict confidence and not disclose to any third party Confidential Information of the other, except as approved in writing by the other party to this Agreement, and will use the Confidential Information for no purpose other than________________ with the other party to this Agreement. Each party shall only permit access to Confidential Information of the other party to those of its employees or authorized representatives having a need to know and who have signed confidentiality agreements or are otherwise bound by confidentiality obligations at least as restrictive as those contained herein.\n5. Confidentiality Agreement Residual Knowledge\nRecipient may use its knowledge retained in intangible form in the unaided memories of its directors, employees
1118184
i don't know. maybe it's in contracts. they always hide the important things in fine lines..
73193
It depends on the secret you want to tell.  But make sure it is something that if it were to get out you could take an immediate action on it.  Try and think of it like you are the one holding the secret.  Does it need to be let out or kept aside until the time is right.
1132600
oh they know absolutely everything. They have a log that keeps track of their clients' activities. Legally, I don't think it's legal to read the logs but they are keeping them for records in case something comes up and they have a reason to suspect you, then they will need a warrant to look at your activities, just like the government taping your phone lines.\n\nI'm not sure if data encryption helps in this case. I'm sure they can still find which sites you are visiting, but they might not be able to tell what messages are being passed back and forth.
205912
That is proprietary information. It is not released to the public.
148138
go to the US Patent and trademark office website to find out more. html://www.USPTO.gov
407469
You really need to consult a patent lawyer about this. The amount of time is dependent on a number of factors. For example, is this product a spin-off of something already patented? If, so the patent office will have to determine if there is any infringement involved. Are all your drawings and technical papers complete and in order? If not, there could be a delay here.
277864
Go to court and ask for the documents.  They're, for the most part, public record.  However, many cases are settled without any formal notation of the settlement with the Court.
102150
The other poster was right about some things but misspoke about others. This is best answered by the USPTO themselves:\n\nWhat Is a Patent?\n\nA patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the Patent and Trademark Office. The term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. US patent grants are effective only within the US, US territories, and US possessions.\n\nThe right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States. What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention.\n\nWhat Is a Trademark or Servicemark?\n\nA trademark is a word, name, symbol or device which is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others. A servicemark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms "trademark" and "mark" are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and servicemarks.\n\nTrademark rights may be used to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark, but not to prevent others from making the same goods or from selling the same goods or services under a clearly different mark. Trademarks which are used in interstate or foreign commerce may be registered with the Patent and Trademark Office. The registration procedure for trademarks and general information concerning trademarks is described in a separate pamphlet entitled "Basic Facts about Trademarks".\n\nWhat Is a Copyright?\n\nCopyright is a form of protection provided to the authors of “original works of authorship” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished. The 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to reproduce the copyrighted work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work, to perform the copyrighted work publicly, or to display the copyrighted work publicly.\n\nThe copyright protects the form of expression rather than the subject matter of the writing. For example, a description of a machine could be copyrighted, but this would only prevent others from copying the description; it would not prevent others from writing a description of their own or from making and using the machine. Copyrights are registered by the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.\n*********************************************************\nRE: Trademarks -- Their use is not indefinite as long as you continue to use the mark. There are deadlines to pay attention to -- between the 5th & 6th year of registration as well as at the 10 yr, 20 yr, 30 yr etc \n\nRE: Copyrights -- Yes, a copyright comes into existence once something is in a "fixed, tangible form," however, registering your copyright provides you with many rights that should be considered.\n\nHope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!