Wiki's & forums are no good for Prior-Art

[the_big_m_in_ok]

Yes, patents are hold more weight, but often inventors would publish their work, prior-art, at wikipedia, and then later on use that as prior-art to file a patent. That no longer holds weight in court. I know of various online magazines that specialize in prior-art that hold weight in court, but they charge money to publish prior-art.
... If you know of a free online source that holds weight in the court, then please post the source.
Thanks

I did check several radio antenna patents.  None referenced anything but written records (IEEE papers, periodical publications, etc.)

If Wikipedia cannot be used as a patent reference, then the Wikipedia sub-references can be used as long as they're qualified as bona-fide in acceptable sources of information.  "Acceptable" is a matter of opinion, though.

Wikipedia is only one source of references and the staff at Wikipedia should check the sources for accuracy.  They do have some reputation to uphold.

--Lee

[PaulLowrance]

In the US a provisional patent is officially prior-art at the time of the filing. The cost at this time is $220, or $110 if you qualify as a small entity. Does anyone know who qualifies as a small entity?

http://www.uspto.gov/patents/resources/types/provapp.jsp

Personally I would submit my prior-art to a non-government entity that specializes in publishing prior-art, and then I would do a provisional patent. Hey, I just don't trust some of the people working in the patent office.

[ramset]

Paul

I have 2 questions?
!} If I come on this [or any] public forum and say .

"OK folks" grab your pen and paper I'm going to show you step by step
From start to finish .
How to build a better widget!
2]
Ok folks Grab your pen and paper
Yah know that old Tesla patent
I FIGURED IT OUT
and I'm gonna show you how he did it
step by step right here right know!!

Paul are you saying that someone can patent
example #1
example #2
??
BTW in these examples the discloser has no intent on patenting anything
Just the opposite ,the intent is to make the info unpatentable ,
Open source
can that intent be accomplished by method #1  or #2??
Chet

[PaulLowrance]

Paul

I have 2 questions?
!} If I come on this [or any] public forum and say .

"OK folks" grab your pen and paper I'm going to show you step by step
From start to finish .
How to build a better widget!
2]
Ok folks Grab your pen and paper
Yah know that old Tesla patent
I FIGURED IT OUT
and I'm gonna show you how he did it
step by step right here right know!!

Paul are you saying that someone can patent
example #1
example #2
??
BTW in these examples the discloser has no intent on patenting anything
Just the opposite ,the intent is to make the info unpatentable ,
Open source
can that intent be accomplished by method #1  or #2??
Chet

That's a good question for someone who knows a lot about patents, which excludes someone like me. I started this thread because of what the patent office was quoted as saying.

I would say #1 is patentable, and #2 is iffy, but the point of this thread is that if a person wants to make something open-sourced, then merely posting the images & details at a forum or wiki appears to be insufficient proof for such prior art.  Date stamp of wiki's and forums can be changed by admins and potential hackers.

So IMO a well backed company could ripoff such inventions, and patent them to claim them. What I would do is find some inexpensive well established acceptable publication company that specialize in prior-art, and then if it's a huge invention, like a self-runner, I would also quickly do an online provisional patent.

Publication companies that specialize in prior-art work in a law suite because they distribute your prior art in hardcopy form, magazine or CD, to thousands of people.

btw, looks like the Steorn live cameras are coming up, off & on.

[the_big_m_in_ok]

Publication companies that specialize in prior-art work in a law suite because they distribute your prior art in hardcopy form, magazine or CD, to thousands of people.

I know of only one reliable prior art site that distributes free material, and it's really old material at that:

NASA Technical Report Server
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp

All other publications that I know of with respect to my main area of interest(aerospace engineering) involve a paid subscription to a periodical.

The AIAA comes to my mind immediately.  For electronic engineering, the IEEE would probably be the organization, I believe.  They started in electrical engineering in 1884.  These two organizations are essentially nonprofit, but they cannot exist without bringing in money to sustain operations and publications---i.e., they cost money.  None are free.

--Lee