Re: [NTLK] USB-001??? Possible?

From: Fábio Palma (newton.pda_at_terra.com.br)
Date: Wed Nov 28 2001 - 13:29:58 EST


Let explain somo thing. This device will have the speedy limited to the
serial speedy (it's the only way to let the newton intact), but still being
an USB port, slower than a USB in your PC/Mac, but an USB.

Regards,

Fabio Palma
----- Original Message -----
From: "BK" <bk_newtontalk_at_yahoo.com>
To: <newtontalk_at_newtontalk.net>
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2001 2:52 PM
Subject: Re: [NTLK] USB-001??? Possible?

>
>
> On Wednesday, November 28, 2001, at 07:29 , F=E1bio Palma wrote:
>
> > PS.: Only one question: Do anyone think that I'll need to copyright =
> this
> > thing(the intrernational copyright id too expensive), or the guys
here=20=
>
> > are
> > very polite, and will not buy if from anyone that copied if from my=20
> > project?
>
> Well, intellectual property is quite a complex matter that cannot be=20
> explained in a few lines, but I will try to give a bit of an overview =
> ...
>
> There is no formal procedure for registering a copyright. The
copyright=20=
>
> is an ownership right you automatically have when you create something=20=
>
> in written form. Thus, the design and any documentation, or software
you=20=
>
> create is automatically protected if you can show that it was you who=20
> created it.
>
> The best way to establish a claim is therefore to publish a web page=20
> where you show a sample of the design, i.e. a photograph of the
finished=20=
>
> board and describe it's features. Then you will put a copyright note=20
> onto each page on the web site saying something like "Design,=20
> documentation and software comprising the <NewtUSB> product are the=20
> intellectual property of <Fabio Palma> and protected under
international=20=
>
> copyright laws. Reproduction of any components even partially without=20
> prior written permission of <Fabio Palma> is prohibited and any=20
> unauthorised reproduction will be prosecuted or something like that.
>
> If anybody later copies your work and says they have been first, then=20
> the website and any documentation you have produced with dates on it=20
> will be usable as proof to when you have been laying claim to your=20
> creation. And postings to this newsgroup where you can announce your=20
> product will end up in the archive which also can later serve as proof=20=
>
> that you had something on offer at a certain date.
>
> Other than that, you can register the name of your creation as a=20
> trademark, i.e. NewtUSB or whatever you fancy and then nobody will be=20
> allowed to use that name for any product related to PDAs.
>
> There are two kinds of trademarks. Registered trademarks and common
law=20=
>
> trademarks.
>
> A registered trademark will require formal registration and you need
to=20=
>
> go to a trademark lawyer to do it and it will cost money. A registered=20=
>
> trademark is denoted by an "R" in a circle, i.e. NewtUSB(R).
>
> A common law trademark is a trademark you establish by using the name=20
> and declaring that you consider it yours. This is again best achieved
by=20=
>
> putting a note on some publication like a brochure or a web site, i.e.=20=
>
> NewtUSB is a trademark of Fabio Palma. A common law trademark is
denoted=20=
>
> by "tm".
>
> The benefit of a registered trademark is that there is a public
binding=20=
>
> record of your trademark. You can always proof that the trademark is=20
> yours and it is almost impossible to dispute the trademark.
>
> The common law trademark is easier to establish, but someone in a=20
> foreign country may use the same name for a product in the same
category=20=
>
> and also claim a trademark for it. It would then be up to a court to=20
> decide who was first and can rightfully claim the trademark.
>
> There are 42 categories for trademarks. So if someone uses "NewtUSB"
for=20=
>
> their New tasteful Uganda Starch Beer then that would be in a
different=20=
>
> category and there would be no conflict with your NewtUSB interface
for=20=
>
> the Newton.
>
> Also, trademarks, common law or registered, have to be actively in use=20=
>
> otherwise they expire. You cannot register a trademark and never use
it=20=
>
> then lay claim to it if someone else uses the name eventually.
>
> Further to trademarks, you can file a patent. However, a patent can
only=20=
>
> be filed for an invention, not a design. Thus, if your design is prior=20=
>
> art (meaning it is based on existing engineering knowledge) you cannot=20=
>
> file a patent. If your design is novel (enhances the existing
knowledge=20=
>
> of humankind) than you may be able to file a patent for it. A USB=20
> interface for the Newton is therefore unlikely to qualify as an=20
> invention under the patent law. This is because there are already USB=20
> interfaces for other computing platforms and therefore prior art. The=20
> fact that a USB interface is novel for the the Newton platform doesn't=20=
>
> make it novel in terms of enhancing the prior art. However, if you
have=20=
>
> found out a new way to build a USB interface to work more efficiently=20
> than how USB interfaces work today, that would possibly qualify for a=20
> patent as it enhances the prior art.
>
> Filing a patent can be a time consuming and expensive process though.
>
> At first a provisional patent can be filed, which has the advantage
that=20=
>
> it allows amendments to be made to it for the duration of 12 months of=20=
>
> the priority date (the date of filing as confirmed by the patent=20
> office). After that, such a patent may be filed under the PCT treaty,=20
> which gives worldwide protection for up to 30 months from the priority=20=
>
> date. After that, a patent will need to be filed separately in each=20
> country where protection is sought, which is called national phase and=20=
>
> that is when it starts getting expensive.
>
> The cost for a provisional patent filing can be very reasonable=20
> depending on the country it is filed. In Australia, where I once filed
a=20=
>
> number of patents, the cost for the provisional filing was in the
order=20=
>
> of 1500-2000 USD, quite reasonable. The same would have cost 5-10
times=20=
>
> as much in the EU.
>
> The filing fee for a PCT filing is 3500 USD plus some minor local=20
> expenses incurred by the patent attorneys. However, when it comes to
the=20=
>
> national phase the cost can easily go into the hundred thousands of=20
> dollars. A patent translation into Japanese for filing in Japan may
cost=20=
>
> 30-50 thousand USD plus the national filing fee and fees for patent=20
> attorneys in Japan. In Europe the filing fee is in the order of 18000=20
> USD for some 15 to 20 countries and most European languages are fine,
so=20=
>
> you don't need a translation if your original filing was in English or=20=
>
> in Portuguese (even though I am not sure about Portuguese being
accepted=20=
>
> by the European Patent Office).
>
> Translating patents is a very painful and therefore costly process.
This=20=
>
> has to do with the fact that translators have to know the Legalese and=20=
>
> also the technical skills of the underlying technology. As if this=20
> wasn't already making it expensive enough, the requirement is that the=20=
>
> translation must follow exactly the same structure line by line as the=20=
>
> original. In other words, what is on page 15 line 25 in the Japanese=20
> translation must match exactly what is on page 15 line 25 in the
English=20=
>
> orginal. This is because if there is any dispute in a court, the
patent=20=
>
> lawyers of the English speaking patent holders will argue like "...but=20=
>
> on page 15 line 25 it says ..." and the Japanese court will be using
the=20=
>
> Japanese translation, so the lines must match up.
>
> This can be quite a challenge for the translators. For example in=20
> European languages we say "... the USB circuit #15 is connected to the=20=
>
> USB standard connector #20 through shielded wire #35 ..." but in=20
> Japanese it will have a structure like " ... #15 which is referred to
as=20=
>
> a circuit of type USB and #20 which is referred to as a connector of=20
> type standard USB, in between them there is #35 referred to as a=20
> connection with a wire which is shielded ...". So, if you have a line=20
> break somewhere then you're out of luck and the line numbers won't
match=20=
>
> up anymore but you can't just change the order because of the Japanese=20=
>
> grammar.
>
> In English we say "C is between B and A" - In Japanese it is "A and B=20
> between there is C", or for the programmers on the list, English
mostly=20=
>
> uses infix and prefix notation, i.e. 1 + 5 =3D 6 or SUM ( 1, 5) =3D 6 =
> while=20
> Japanese is a postfix language like HP calculators, Postscript and=20
> Forth, i.e. 1 <enter> 5 + or (1, 5) +
>
> There are more Languages like this and there are even more exotic ones=20=
>
> which if you want to file a patent in the respective countries to stop=20=
>
> them people from copycat manufacturing your invention without paying=20
> royalties, you will have to shell out $$$ for translating your patent=20
> before you can file there and that can get rather expensive as the
above=20=
>
> should illustrate.
>
> Anyway, I don't think that a patent filing will apply to your NewtUSB=20
> circuitry. So, don't forget to etch a copyright note onto the circuit=20
> board, i.e. (c) 2001 Fabio Palma and hope nobody will be too nasty=20
> stealing your work.
>
> looking forward to your USB interface for the Newton
>
> kind regards
> BK
>
>
> _________________________________________________________
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>
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