Message text written by INTERNET:drew@pixar.com
>It is possible that the company who is printing the books is also
infringing on someone's copyright. Is there any way to look up in
some government records who owns the copyright to a given document?<
You bet it is! Patent infringement and Copyright infringement happens all
the time in big ways. The bigger the company, the freer they feel to do it.
They have more expensive lawyers on retainer than you. Do you have the
money to go after them?
I once had a great thing to patent, and it would have cost a bunch to do.
There is always the issue of "not obvious to an expert in the field". My device
was pretty obvious, but the devil was in the details. It used a well known
physical
principle and then used computers and digital video and stuff to use it.
What exactly was the patented process? The sofware? The sensor? The method
of using the video? The whole thing? What if one detail was changed. A
different shaped sensor?
Is that infringement? Only the lawyers in court would know for sure. I had no
way
to go after the infringers, so I did not bother to patent.
Copyright is a little easier to pursue, but it still requires the courts in
order to get
satisfaction. Usually no profit in it for us small guys and defunct companies.
-Tony
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