Replies to post #49390 on Greenshift Corporation (GERS)

[Harry Winston]

To do so ICM should have been confident that their technology did improve the GERS technology in an unique way and GERS was using the improvement made by ICM without having it in Greenshift's original patent.

ICM didn't need to have "confidence" in its' technology. All they would have to do would be to have a patent issued to them. The process of receiving a patent would give ICM all the confidence they needed to file a lawsuit against Greenshift for infringing on ICM's patent, even if that patent was an improvement on an existing Greenshift patent.

For example, suppose that your name is Thomas Edison and that you've just invented an electric light bulb that uses a filament made of one material. Another person could get a patent for a new material for the filament that makes the light bulb last longer before it burns out. That's a material improvement in the original invention, so it could be patented.

If Mr. Edison used a light bulb in his office that had the new material (covered by a new patent) for its' filament without getting a license from the second individual, that person could sue Mr. Edison for infringing on his own patent.

Likewise, ICM could obtain a patent that improved on an existing Greenshift patent and then sue Greenshift if they believed that Greenshift was using ICM technology without obtaining a license.