6. Innovations in idea generation

We have seen in the course of this article that patents have a limited lifespan (20 years, with the exception of pharmaceutical products, due to the lengthy testing required to bring them to market). We have also seen that many patents are abandoned after ten years or so (no one has been found to exploit them, or they have not been resold, or the technology is outdated, or the annuities have not been paid).

On the other hand, a patent only protects the invention in the country where the patent was applied for and obtained. This is the case for PCT or European patents, or patents extended to other countries (an extension to a third country takes around 18 months). So, taking these various considerations into account, it may be possible in some cases to legally use information from obsolete, abandoned or non-extended patents.

For example,...