Re: [9fans] Re: secstore and PAKserver

["Anthony Sorace" <anothy@gmail.com>]

// ...I thought the patent systems were still strictly national.

the patent systems are still national (with some exceptions like the
complex mess in the EU), but there's nothing to prevent LU (or anyone
else) filing in multiple jurisdictions. one can submit a single filing
under the Patent Cooperation Treaty that preserves the priority date,
but the national phase still has to be completed later in each
country. without the potential patent holder simply giving you a
reference, there's no way to tell whether a similar patent exists in
any particular jurisdiction without doing an explicit search (and
google's patent search only covers US patents to date).