Copy of the UK Patent

[Riverkilt]

A guy on the UK board posted the UK patent for their kilt seams on his website. Its PDF format, prints out to 11 pages. Kinda interesting.

http://atom.smasher.org/tmp/utilikil...nt_6282723.pdf

If anyone can understand it you're a better man than me.

Ron

[MDR-V300]

If anyone can understand it

It is [as are all legal documents] excruciatingly clear and repetitive. All it states is that kilt has:
-at least one pocket [pocket has a lip or similar device to prevent stuff falling out]
-The ability to clip the front to the back for short-like operation
-A tensionable and concealable loop for carrying things
-pleats that start with a box [over]pleat in the front, continue from there on each side such that the pleats are all facing backward, and end with a box underpleat in the back.

and that any minor variation thereof still falls under their patent.


Oh. and if anyone is curious about the 'ars brs crs...' diagrams, 'rs' just means right side, and a,b,c are the panel numbers.

[GMan]

Interesting read, after one gets past all the legalese it does explain what it is all about.

Thanks for that Ron.

[The Wizard of BC]

As anyone who has gone thru the process can tell you, having a patent, and defending it, are two different things.

When I first started to design my kilts I pulled up Steve V's Patent. (I hate copying anyone), and found that it coveres mostly stuff no one has ever bothered to patent before, but that is in the public realm for many years.

The pleating system has been done before. Matt Newsome can attest to that.

[bubba]

I've said it before, if the UK patent were ever seriously challenged UK would likely lose.

[Magnus Sporrano]

The legal terminology that would squash the UK patent is "prior art". This stuff has been done before by other people, so the patent likely wouldn't hold if challenged.

[bubba]

Of course, to create the challenge UK would have to try to enforce it and I doubt they would. They must know their stuff really isn't anything new as far as construction. The overall look might be but no individual method of construction is.

[MDR-V300]

I think a lot of people get patents just because they can. It's cool to say 'our patented design', so the patent clerks are kept busy. The abundance of patents on arguably identical concepts created by this situation is, of course, what keeps the patent attorneys busy. It's a wonderful world.

[MACKAY]

I think a lot of people get patents just because they can. It's cool to say 'our patented design', so the patent clerks are kept busy. The abundance of patents on arguably identical concepts created by this situation is, of course, what keeps the patent attorneys busy. It's a wonderful world.

Agreed ... a smart marketing tool, but thats about it.

Brian

[Yaish]

UK has actually defended their patent several times from what I have heard, successfully. Now as stories have a tendancy to shift and change in the telling the details may not all be entirely true but I beleive the core of it is.