| Patents only apply to the geographical area in which they are regisetred.
For example I needed to patent a pump design separately in America, Europe and Japan because they were our main markets.
In europe and Japan my original claims were accepted, but in America my claim had to be more specific to avoid overlap with another American patent.
If 45 degree carbon has not previously been used in Japan, then they could claim a patent there, however they may not be successful with an American or European claim.
I can't find the W&W patent, so they may have filed and been rejected!
One problem for Border could be that unless you have sold your limbs in Japan, before the W&W patent was filed, you may have problems selling there now. That depends if W&W actually have a patent, and if they wish to claim royalties for Border sales in Japan.
Had I not obtained a patent, there was a possibility that anopther company could have made a similar claim, then tried to charge royalties from our company sales in that country. For this reason patents are often obtained as a precaution rather than to prevent others producing something similar.
We would not have taken action if our ideas had been copied, but wanted to avoid loosing the right to sell our own product.
Patents are of dubious value. They are costly to obtain and costly to defend if you want to claim royalties. Some protection may be obtained by ensuring you publish full technical information in your potential market countries. This may prevent the concept being patented by someone else, but makes it easier for them to copy your ideas. The risks and benefits are not easy to ballance.  |