[Trombone-l] Don't pull your F slide out too far

[Daniel Pliskin]

> I once had a colleague whose mantra was "You can't patent sunshine". 
> Apparently now you can!

A good patent attorney will try to take the simplest things and make claims about them first.  A trombone patent might start with claims about how to blow air.  Those claims are sited in successive claims.  

Oddly, a claim has to be written in only one sentence.  That sentence may start out siting previous claims and then adding a few pages to those claims, but all in one sentence.  

A good patent attorney will also change the wording or your patent in order to make it as general purpose as possible.  That way, some vastly different idea just may fall under the "protection" of your patent.  

The reason why I put the word "protection" in quotes is that my last patent is for an engine/electric hybrid technology, where the only way for us to enforce the patent would be to sue an infringing automaker.  I've been told that it would take about 150 lawyers to win a law suit against General Motors.  At that rate, the patent is basically useless.  

But the patent only protects its holder against manufacturers selling trombones that have G-attachments.  It doesn't keep you from converting your trombone to have a G-attachment.  It might keep you from advertising that you want to sell a trombone that has a G-attachment, though.  But again, the patent is only good if the patent holder can enforce it.  

I'd say that this patent falls under the category of wall paper.  

DanP

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