--- In STMFC@..., Anthony Thompson <thompson@...> wrote:

... was for 17 years but
it was renewable.

Don't know where you got this number, Rich, but the right number
is 28 years, renewable once. That's why 1922 is a magic year: 1922 +
two 28-year terms = 1978, the date at which a new law went into effect.

The old term for patents was 17 years, but patents were not renewable. People are always confusing patents with copyright.

Many thanks to Tony Thompson and Bruce Smith for interjecting some "true facts" into this discussion, as opposed to the kind that normally get endlessly repeated in the recent discussions of Trademark, Copyright, and Patent law.

Now, when you guys are done, substitute the phrase "make rubber molds of plastic parts and copy them" for "upload photos to the internet" and run it all again.


Dennis Storzek
Big Rock, IL