Walking through the Patent Minefield

[Brock Little]

Is there anyone who has experience working under patents?

I'm interested to know how long patents remain applicable, and what (if any) royalties one may need to pay to use certain patented technologies.

The way it relates to me is I have seen a lot of old ideas that are no longer being used in the industry, and others that never realised the full potential of their design. Some of the original designers have been dead for decades, and some of the designs were never used in production.

If you have info or experience on registering your own patents your input would also be appreciated. I enjoy designing my own new technologies, and I'm sure there are others here who have done so.
Thanks

[Peter Clothier]

From memory I seem to think that 20 years is the absolute max. There are certain provisional allowances for development and marketing of a patented product after 15 years.
I'm not very up on it though. You should be able to find out quite easily by contacting the patent office website of your country.

Pete.