I know you said you didn't want to get into an argument about current IP structure, but it's unavoidable with your questions, and what does appear to happen in practice in the US. On Fri, Sep 20, 2013 at 11:46 PM, YES NOPE9 wrote: > Patent law states "On taking up an application for examination or a paten= t > in a reexamination proceeding, the examiner shall make a thorough study > thereof and shall make a thorough investigation of the available prior ar= t > relating to the subject matter of the claimed invention." This means that > prior art could disqualify your application for a patent. > Except that in reality that's not what seems to happen - several well known examples of patents despite prior art. > > Until the courts get involved..... is the USPTO the final referee > concerning patents ? > See above - the USPTO appear to prefer to leave it up to the courts rather than get involved in anything like prior art which might result in them having to do work. Chris --=20 http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .