Patent on the barrel indexing system

[Gene Beggs]

Many have asked,

"Beggs, do you have a patent on this thing?"

NO, of course not! Patents are nothing but wall decorations and conversation pieces unless you are willing to defend them in court. Anything I discover, I gladly share with others. Things like this belong to everyone.

Others have asked,

"Beggs, aren't you concerned about product liability?"

NO, certainly not! Everything we benchresters do is experimental. I am very safety concious and accept responsibility for my own actions and expect others to do the same.

Later,

Gene Beggs

 

[spencer313]

but if a large commercial interest DOES patent your work, then you and the shooting community may end up is a situation where you have to pay a royalty to use this process.

By Gene generously describing his work in the public domain (such as this forum), he is creating "prior art".

It is not possible for another person (which in the US includes corporations) to patent his work which is in the public domain.

However, there is nothing preventing a company from producing and selling something that is in the public domain.

Gene has precluded another from securing a patent; this is a viable strategy in the handling of intellectual property, too. IBM does it all the time.

(No, I am not an attorney, but I do have six patents. And I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.)

 

[stiller]

Patents arent cheap

I have worked on a few patents. Paid for one to the tune of over 10K and did the other myself. By the way, still dont have either. After spending all the money to get one, will it ever pay off?? A patent for something unique is cool to have etc etc, but if no one wants to use it and pay accordingly, was the money expediture of any use. I would put things like this in that category. No one in the big picture will ever take the time to do this commercially. My drop port is in the same boat, but I will have spent lots-o-money if it ever gets through all the paperwork. On the other hand, I have my name on multiple patents at both TI and Raytheon that have made them money, or at least secured the business. The tuner deal such as the Boss is a pretty easy thing for the big companies to implement and create a marketing story for. Soon the money comes in and is worth it. Most of the stuff we as benchrest shooters are willing to do is far beyond the general gun population. I will never again patent something that doesnt make business sense.

 

[Gene Beggs]

Stiller and Spencer 313, you explained it better than any attorney could have done. I agree completely.

Gene Beggs

 

[Jefferson]

yup

I is an attorney , stayed at home last night and most nights, and do not have any patents,

But involved in a few lawsuits about them,

good simple explanations, also if you have a patent in most jurisdictions if their is infringement you must let that person know and take steps to defend your patent or you lose it. Funny system, not meant for the little guy,

anyway thanks to all those who invent (including the new JTR BR Stock from Robertson composite, partly mine and nver to be patented but perhaps copied,

shameless plug from a shameless person

Jefferson

 

[Gene Beggs]

There is nothing preventing a company from producing and selling something that is in the public domain. Gene has precluded another from securing a patent; this is a viable strategy in the handling of intellectual property, too. IBM does it all the time.
(No, I am not an attorney, but I do have six patents. And I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.)

Spencer, you are correct in everything you say. There is nothing to prevent an individual or corporation from producing and selling my products, but why would they bother when they can buy the genuine article from me at a very reasonable price and are assured of both quality and unsurpassed product support. For example, the Wind Probe.

There have been many attempts to copy the Wind Probe but none have even come close to the quality and performance of the genuine article. Ask anyone who owns the genuine article how the product support has been.

When the probes were being developed, several people urged me to seek a patent but after careful consideration I decided it would not be wise. We of the benchrest community are a close knit group and the market is very limited. If I spend a day of my life providing you with a fine product or service, I will charge a reasonable fee but I assure you, the cost will be more than fair. No one is getting rich providing benchrest products and services; it's a labor of love.

Later,

Gene Beggs

 

[Gene Beggs]

I is an attorney , stayed at home last night and most nights, and do not have any patents,

But involved in a few lawsuits about them,

good simple explanations, also if you have a patent in most jurisdictions if their is infringement you must let that person know and take steps to defend your patent or you lose it. Funny system, not meant for the little guy,

anyway thanks to all those who invent (including the new JTR BR Stock from Robertson composite, partly mine and nver to be patented but perhaps copied,

shameless plug from a shameless person

Jefferson

Hi Jeff

Thanks for the input. Look forward to seeing you.

Later,

Gene Beggs

 

[spencer313]

Spencer, you are correct in everything you say. There is nothing to prevent an individual or corporation from producing and selling my products, but why would they bother when they can buy the genuine article from me at a very reasonable price and are assured of both quality and unsurpassed product support. For example, the Wind Probe.

There have been many attempts to copy the Wind Probe but none have even come close to the quality and performance of the genuine article. Ask anyone who owns the genuine article how the product support has been.

When the probes were being developed, several people urged me to seek a patent but after careful consideration I decided it would not be wise. We of the benchrest community are a close knit group and the market is very limited. If I spend a day of my life providing you with a fine product or service, I will charge a reasonable fee but I assure you, the cost will be more than fair. No one is getting rich providing benchrest products and services; it's a labor of love.

Later,

Gene Beggs

I could not agree with you more, Gene.

Good work!

 

[rstreich]

By Gene generously describing his work in the public domain (such as this forum), he is creating "prior art".

It is not possible for another person (which in the US includes corporations) to patent his work which is in the public domain....

Sorry, but this one is quite untrue in practice.

When software and business process became patentable, I saw dozens of patents issued for things that had been common practice for decades. Some were even issued for software that had both public domain and commercial applications available.

Your argument assumes that the patent office will find all of the prior art and this just isn't the case. I'm pretty certain that BR Central is not on their list of databases that they search.

Jerry's argument against the need is probably the best, but it probably wouldn't be all that much of a stretch for Savage to pick up something like this. OTOH, the whole concept of indexing might be considered as unmarketable to the average shooter.

 

[Gene Beggs]

Sorry, but this one is quite untrue in practice.

Jerry's argument against the need is probably the best, but it probably wouldn't be all that much of a stretch for Savage to pick up something like this. OTOH, the whole concept of indexing might be considered as unmarketable to the average shooter.

Exactly.

Gene Beggs