A few hopefully final thoughts on this issue: If the device is patented, you
can call the US patent office or go down to a patent library (there's one in
Sunnyvale CA for
example) and get the actual goodies on the product--a copy of the patent,
describing how the item or process works and what it does. A patent protects
the inventor from duplication. It does not create a "trade secret." (which
is why Coca cola's formual is not patented--patents last 17 years, and if it
had been "patented" Coke's formula would have long ago been known
publically).
If the product is "patent pending" it should mean that the product has gone
to Patent Office for consideration. (It could also mean the promoters of this
fuel stabilization product are having a wet dream, that the product is a scam
and that the words "patent pending" lend a certin ligitamacy to the
product--kind of like the "Customs Sale" mailer I get friom time to time from
a guy selling Persian rugs in Palo Alto.) An item that is "Patent Pending" is
protected from general knowledge adn information concerning it remains with
the inventor until the actual patent is issued. Which does not mean a patent
will issue. The Patent Office may decide that the product is junk, that it
cannot be patented (a cardboard box for example), or fails the "prior art"
test--ie someone's already patented a similar item. So a company that says
the item is "patented" and won't discuss it because it's a "trade secret"
like Coca Cola would arouse my suspicions that what they have really isn't
worth much. BTW saying a device is "patented" rolls easily off the tongue.
The Derrington Steering wheel, for example, carries a patent number, so I
called the Patent Office for a copy of the patent. I assumed the number was
a Brit Number, so I specified such. The Brit number that came back was a
descrtiption of a process used in making steel. The US number had something
to do with a telephone switchboard, as I recall. So much for "patented".
Can I only suggest that this thread is allowed to grind mercifully to a halt
with the suggestions that 1) it is a mailbox clogger and 2) if it seems to
good to be true, it probably isn't. -- John Trifari 1955 Healey BN1/1980 MGB
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