American Green Inc (ERBB)

[thebaseballdoctor]

The Tomassi patent rights could be the most powerful ace in the hand/trump card that ERBB could ever have to play.

It is my understanding that the life of a patent runs 20 years...from the filing date of the application. According to these guidelines, the Tomassi patent rights should run from the filing date of the first patent in 2002, for 20 years, or, run from the filing date of the current patent application date of 2004, which was a continuation of the first patent. So, the life of the current patent will run until at least 2022 or 2024, depending on which application date is applied.

If the filing process is drawn out, as is done by clever businesses, by deliberately having certain claims, or verbiage, that has to be cleaned up, then, the patent life can greatly exceed the 20 year stipulation. There are provisions in place to adjust the number of years on the life of the patent, should certain circumstances occur.

"For applications filed before June 8, 1995 and for patents that were still in force on June 8, 1995, the patent term is either 17 years from the issue date or 20 years from the filing date of the earliest U.S. or international (PCT) application to which priority is claimed."

I am also including the MDBX patent #7,844,363 for comparison of the claims of ERBB/Tomassi patent #7,493,190, with those of the MDBX, for those that want to do their own DD.

I may be wrong, but, if memory serves me correctly, both of these patents were reviewed by the same examiner, and they both were in the same field of search... AJMHO, of course, FWIW

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7493190.PN.&OS=PN/7493190&RS=PN/7493190

What is claimed is:

1. A method of permitting only authorized users to use an automated vending machine, comprising the steps of: providing each of the authorized users with an identification card that contains a digital data code corresponding both to the identity of the authorized user and a biometric characteristic of the authorized user; providing a vending machine having an identification card reading device and a biometric characteristic scanner; reading said digital data code from an identification card inserted into said identification card reading device in said vending machine by a potential user; scanning an actual biometric characteristic directly from the potential user using said biometric characteristic scanner; comparing the actual biometric characteristic of the potential user to the digital data code of said biometric characteristic contained on said identification card; and enabling the vending machine if the actual biometric characteristic of the potential user matches the digital data code of said biometric characteristic contained on said identification card and if said digital data code on said identification card indicates that the potential user is authorized.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said biometric characteristic scanner is selected from a group consisting of fingerprint scanners, palm print scanners, retina scanners, knuckle scanners and voice print scanners.

3. The method according to claim 1, further including the step of providing the vending machine with a money validation system for receiving and validating money from the potential user.

4. The method according to claim 3, further including the step of enabling the vending machine only after the potential user has deposited a predetermined fee into said money validation system.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said vending machine vends a product that can only be sold to potential users over a predetermined age.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said vending machine vends prepurchased products that are to be dispensed only to a potential user who prepurchased the product.

7. A vending machine for vending regulated products, said vending machine comprising: a money validation unit for receiving and validating money; an identification card reader for reading an identification card; a biometric characteristic scanner for reading actual biometric characteristic data from a person standing in front of the vending machine; a systems controller for enabling said vending machine to vend the regulated products only after a proper fee has been deposited into the money validation unit and data read from said identification card is matched to said actual biometric characteristic data read by said biometric characteristic scanner.

8. The vending machine according to claim 7, wherein said biometric characteristic scanner is selected from a group consisting of fingerprint scanners, palm print scanners, retina scanners, knuckle scanners and voice recognition scanners.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein said vending machine vends a product that can only be sold to potential users over a predetermined age.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein said vending machine vends prepurchased products that are to be dispensed only to a potential user who prepurchased the product.

11. A vending system, comprising: identification cards distributed to authorized persons, wherein each identification card contains a digital data code regarding a biometric characteristic that is unique to the owner of that identification card; at least one vending machine having a card reader for reading said identification cards and a biometric characteristic scanner for ascertaining an actual biometric characteristic of a person using the vending machine, wherein the vending machine compares the actual biometric characteristic of the person using the vending machine to said digital data code on said identification card and vends product only when there is a match.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein said biometric characteristic scanner is selected from a group consisting of fingerprint scanners, palm print scanners, retina scanners, knuckle scanners and voice recognition scanners.

13. The system according to claim 11, wherein said vending machine vends a product that can only be sold to potential users over a predetermined age.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein said vending machine vends prepurchased products that are to be dispensed only to a potential user who prepurchased the product.

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7844363.PN.&OS=PN/7844363&RS=PN/7844363

What is claimed is:

1. A system to enable an individual to legally purchase a medical substance from at least one vending machine, comprising: a. a central processing center to receive from the individual a prescription from a licensed medical doctor for a specific medical substance in a specific dose and quantity; b. means at the central processing center to obtain a visual image of the individual; c. means at the central processing center to fingerprint the individual; d. means at the central processing center to receive verification information about the individual; e. means at the central processing center to enable the individual to create a customized PIN code; f. means at the central processing center to receive payment from the individual; g. inputting all information received at the central processing center about the individual, comprising the prescription, the visual image, and the fingerprint, the verification information input into a central database which transmits the information through electronic means to at least one vending machine; and h. the at least one vending machine at a location remote from the central processing center, comprising selected quantities of medical substances therein, selection means to select a specific medical substance, means to receive the verification information about the individual from the central database, means at the vending machine to verify the visual image of the individual when the individual is at the at least one vending machine by taking an additional visual image of the individual, means to enable the individual to input the individual's verification information to confirm the identity of the individual, means after confirming the individual's identity to enable the individual to cause the at least one vending machine to dispense the medical substance for which the prescription was obtained and means to enable the individual to receive the medical substance from the vending machine.

2. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said verification information includes a driver's license and credit card.

3. A system to enable an individual to legally purchase a medical substance from at least one vending machine, comprising: a. a central processing center to receive from the individual a legal prescription for a specific substance in a specific dose and quantity; b. means at the central processing center to obtain a visual image of the individual; c. means at the central processing center to obtain identification information about the individual and input the information into a central database which transmits the information to the at least one vending machine at a remote location; d. means to receive payment from the individual; and e. the at least one vending machine at a location remote from the central processing center, comprising selected quantities of medical substances therein, selection means to select a specific medical substance, means to receive the verification information about the individual from the central database, means at the at least one vending machine to verify the visual image of the individual when the individual is at the at least one vending machine by taking an additional visual image of the individual, means to enable the individual to input the individual's verification information to confirm the identity of the individual, means after confirming the individual's identity to enable the individual to cause the at least one vending machine to dispense the medical substance for which the prescription was obtained and means to enable the individual to receive the medical substance from the vending machine.