What to do if inventor is missing?

[eighthman]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

I am very interested in US patent 5552244. However, I can't find the inventor and his lawyer is dead! Letters sent to last known address and even online advertising in his area go nowhere. Phone number searches don't yield him either.

Could I manufacture the device ( battery) and set aside an average royalty for future claimaints? What can I do?

[divgradcurl]

Originally Posted by eighthman

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

I am very interested in US patent 5552244. However, I can't find the inventor and his lawyer is dead! Letters sent to last known address and even online advertising in his area go nowhere. Phone number searches don't yield him either.

Could I manufacture the device ( battery) and set aside an average royalty for future claimaints? What can I do?

Have you checked the assignment history of the patent? Perhaps the patent has been assigned to someone else. Have the maintenance fees been paid on the patent? If they haven't, the patent may be invalid. Otherwise, if the patent is still assigned to the inventor and is still valid, perhaps you could hire an investigator or something to try and track down the inventor.

[eighthman]

I was not aware of maintenance fees. How can I find out if the patent is still valid? And can I find out an address of someone who paid? Would the Patent Office know?

Thanks!

[divgradcurl]

Any information concerning the patent that the USPTO has will be available via public PAIR, [url=http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair]United States Patent & Trademark Office[/url]

[eighthman]

Thanks for the PAIR info.

It was granted 9/03/1996 and the last payment was made in 10/2002.

the Patent Maintenance page says "window opens 9/03/2003, window closes 9/03/2004"

So, I can build 'em and sell 'em?

[divgradcurl]

Originally Posted by eighthman

Thanks for the PAIR info.

It was granted 9/03/1996 and the last payment was made in 10/2002.

the Patent Maintenance page says "window opens 9/03/2003, window closes 9/03/2004"

So, I can build 'em and sell 'em?

I wouldn't based solely on this. It's pretty easy to petition the USPTO to accept a late payment to bring maintenance fees up to date, so even if they are behind right now, if they saw you infringing, they may be able to "reinstate" the patent and come after you for infringement.

Your best bet is to try and find a service to help you locate the current owner of the patent.