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To: Clarksterh who wrote (8952)	2/28/1998 1:21:00 PM
From: Dave	Respond to of 152472

All: RE: Patents Due to the General agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) applications filed on or after Jun 8, 1995 are subject to a patent term of 20 years from filing date. Applications filed prior to Jun 8, 1995 are subject to a patent term which is the longer of 17 years from issue/patent date or 20 years from the filing date. Hope that clears things up. dave

To: Clarksterh who wrote (8952)	3/1/1998 3:21:00 AM
From: Ingenious	Respond to of 152472

Patents 20 vs. 17 yrs The net effect of GATT on many companies may be quite small. The life of a patent begins when it is filed yet it gains force only when issued. Thus, patents which take 2-3 years to issue from the filing date will have about the same life of 17 years. In the computer industry, the life of a patent can be moot since technology changes out every 3-6 years. IN a standards based industry like cell technolyg, patents may have more importance as more people adopt the standard and use it over many years.