Question from Mark A.:
What is an X-patent?
Prior to the Patent Act passed on July 4, 1836, patents were assigned by date and the name of the patentee. The Patent Act provided a system for numbering the patents. Patents issued before the Patent Act were renumbered in chronological order with an X after the number. The first patent every issued is now 1x.
Read more about X-patents and patent #1.
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Question from Jill W.:
I was wondering: do patents ever expire?
Good question, Jill.
A United States patent that was filed after June 8, 1995 expires 20 years from the filing date. A patent that was filed before June 8, 1995 expires 17 years from the issue date or 20 years from the filing date whichever is later.
United States Utility Patents require maintenance fees to be paid. Fees are due at 3.5, 7 and 11.5 years from the date of issue. If these fees are not paid, the patent will expire before the 20 years have passed.
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Question from Mike:
How many pages was the longest patent application ever?
Excellent question, Mike!
The longest patent application, US20070224201A for Compositions And Methods For The Diagnosis And Treatment Of Tumor, has 7,154 pages. This application also has the most figure sheets at 6,881 sheets.
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Question from Jenny:
I heard Coca-Cola originally got its name because they used to put cocaine in it. Is that really true?
Interesting question, Jenny!
Coca-Cola was in fact named for its two medicinal ingredients: extract of the coca leaves and kola nuts. The original formula included five ounces of coca leaf per gallon of syrup. At one time, Coca-Cola contained approximately nine milligrams of cocaine per glass. Continue reading “Ask The Invention Geek – Cocaine in Coca Cola?”