Have Gillette Mach 3 Patents expired
- Thread starter mintong
- Start date
I don't believe so. IIRC, the real protection for the Mach 3 patents came for the floating blades, and not just for 3+ blades.
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2003/08/31/the_war_of_the_razors/
U.S. Design patents have a term of 14 years from the date of issue.
From the article:
"Filed in 1994, patent No. 6,212,777 describes the technology in exacting detail. The patent covers a group of three blades with parallel sharpened edges located between a plastic cap at the top of the cartridge and a guard at the bottom. The blade closest to the cap must stick out no more than .2 mm. The last blade, closest to the guard, must be recessed into the cartridge at least .2 mm. The middle blade must fall in between.
Positioned accordingly, the first blade is designed to lift the hair, the second to cut it and the third to cut it even closer. And though the patent refers to three blades, Kraus said it applies to any three blades similarly aligned, regardless of whether they are part of a four-, five- or 20-blade razor.
In this regard, patent attorneys say, Gillette is likely on firm ground. But little else is certain."
That patent would have expired 3-4 years ago. But there were additional issues on patents under an international treaty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Term_of_patent_in_the_United_States
If the patents are 20 years in length then this patent would expire in 2014.
Gillette has according to this 2003 article "has more than 50 patents covering its Mach3 franchise."
What is not stated is when the cartridge/razor interface patent will soon expire or has expired.
U.S. Design patents have a term of 14 years from the date of issue.
From the article:
"Filed in 1994, patent No. 6,212,777 describes the technology in exacting detail. The patent covers a group of three blades with parallel sharpened edges located between a plastic cap at the top of the cartridge and a guard at the bottom. The blade closest to the cap must stick out no more than .2 mm. The last blade, closest to the guard, must be recessed into the cartridge at least .2 mm. The middle blade must fall in between.
Positioned accordingly, the first blade is designed to lift the hair, the second to cut it and the third to cut it even closer. And though the patent refers to three blades, Kraus said it applies to any three blades similarly aligned, regardless of whether they are part of a four-, five- or 20-blade razor.
In this regard, patent attorneys say, Gillette is likely on firm ground. But little else is certain."
That patent would have expired 3-4 years ago. But there were additional issues on patents under an international treaty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Term_of_patent_in_the_United_States
If the patents are 20 years in length then this patent would expire in 2014.
Gillette has according to this 2003 article "has more than 50 patents covering its Mach3 franchise."
What is not stated is when the cartridge/razor interface patent will soon expire or has expired.
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Starting to see "generic" 5-blade designs showing up at CVS/Walgreens, but I don't believe they are compatible with the Fusion handles.
You're right. I bought some just before I got into DE shaving and they won't fit on my Fusion handle.
Under US patent law, patents filed before November, 1995 are entitled to 17 years of patent life from the date of issue, which in this case is 2001. Mach3 clones won't be available until 2018 at the earliest.
Well the design patents for the blade configuration (geometry) within the cartridge was in 1994. 17 years or even 20 years would put that design into not patented state by 2014.
Now the question is the interface to the razor. When was that patent finalized?
"In 1998, after more than $750 million of research and testing, Gillette introduced Mach3,..." but the design patents would be in force before introduction. Gillette made the mistake of a patent pending release before, and I don't think they are quick to repeat the mistake. If the interface was patented before 1998 then adding 17 years would lead to 2015.
Now this may or may not be a legal product as many counterfeits abound...
http://www.systemrazors.com/index.p...ategory_id=2&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=212
If the razor / cartridge interface patent is expired, then it is legal. If not, then it is not.
When a flood of compatible cartridges come on the market then we know for sure that the interface patent is expired. Just like the Trac II, Atra and Sensor interfaces in the past.
Nope, the patent number you listed issued in 2001, and the application was filed in 1994. Under the law, that patent expires in 2018. That's also not a design patent (which would have a "D" before the number). It is a utility patent covering an invention that is useful, novel and non-obvious. The product was marketed before that particular patent issued, which is a more common occurrence than most people think.
The patent must have ran out because Walmart's Equate 3 blade cartridges fit all Mach 3 handles and it says so on the package.
I believe that patent protection is from the point of _filing_, not from the granting point. Because of long delays in the patent granting process, if the protection was only after the granting point, there would be up to 10 years that someone else could take advantage of the patent OR if done the other way, the application would be granted an extra 10 years of patent protection, an obvious abuse of the purpose of patents.
Basically - as soon as you file, you're protected until the government says that the patent is invalid, or the expiration period.
Patent protection is from the point of issuance, though you have reach through to damages for a period of time if you put a potential infringer on notice while the patent is pending. The expiration date of the patent is 20 years from the filing date.
The patents relevant to making a cartridge compatible with the Mach 3 handle expired on April 10th last year.
