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coolerheadsprevail

06/14/13 2:40 AM

#11367 RE: HiJames #11366

Reply:"Clarification" Patents have a expiration date of 20yrs (under usual circumstances),they have up to 6yrs after to file for a lawsuit against those who infringed with in that 20yrs. Even if they filed a lawsuit 6 yrs later they can still only receives compensation for the 20yrs the patent was good for, not 26yrs.



No. You are still not getting it. The maximum number of years worth of past damages any patent owner is permitted to claim is 6 years.

If a patent owner sues for infringement anywhere during years 1-6, then they can claim all past years plus all remaining years for future royalties, for a total of 20 years of monetization.

If the suit is filed in year 7, they can only claim 6 years of past damages, meaning year 1 is now lost and unrecoverable. Years 2-7 are eligible for past damages and the remaining 13 years are eligible for future royalties, for a total of 19 years of monetization.

If the suit is filed in year 14, they can only claim 6 years of past damages, meaning years 1-8 are now lost and unrecoverable. Years 9-14 are eligible for past damages and the remaining 6 years are eligible for future royalties, for a total of 12 years of monetization.

If the suit is filed in year 20, they can only claim 6 years of past damages, meaning years 1-14 are now lost and unrecoverable. Years 15-20 are eligiblefor past damages and no future years remain on the life of the patents, for a total of 6 years of monetization.

If the suit is filed in year 23, they can only claim 6 years of past damages, but only 3 of those years (years 18-20) are recoverable since the patents expired following year 20 and no damages can be claimed for years 21-23. In this scenario, there is only 3 years of monetization.