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There is a fast food chain that only serves cereal, and it's called
"Ceriality" web site is http://www.ceriality.com
They claim to have a patent pending on their idea. I think this is an
interesting idea and would be interested in opening a similar type
place myself. The people at Ceriality claim they have a patent pending
for the idea. That to me sounds like Ford or GM patening the steering
wheel or Starbucks patening the idea to sell coffe in a retail cafe,
or SUBWAY patening the idea of a sit down hoggie shop, McDs patening
fast food hamburgers.
In any case, if I open a restaurant that only sells fast cereal meals
in boxes but call it something else, design the inside differentley,
would they have a legal claim to close me down? The *only* similarity
would be that the two stores allow people to buy combinations of
cereal mixes and milk.
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There is a fast food chain that only serves cereal, and it's called
"Ceriality" web site is http://www.ceriality.com
They claim to have a patent pending on their idea. I think this is an
interesting idea and would be interested in opening a similar type
place myself. The people at Ceriality claim they have a patent pending
for the idea. That to me sounds like Ford or GM patening the steering
wheel or Starbucks patening the idea to sell coffe in a retail cafe,
or SUBWAY patening the idea of a sit down hoggie shop, McDs patening
fast food hamburgers.
In any case, if I open a restaurant that only sells fast cereal meals
in boxes but call it something else, design the inside differentley,
would they have a legal claim to close me down? The *only* similarity
would be that the two stores allow people to buy combinations of
cereal mixes and milk.
It's cereality, btw. Who knows what their pending patent encompasses? It may
be a specific procedure or process, or it may be a design patent. Can they
shut you down? They can certainly sue you - and prosecuting and defending
patent infringemnt claims can be horrendously expensive - or so I've heard.
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In any case, if I open a restaurant that only sells fast cereal meals
in boxes but call it something else, design the inside differentley,
would they have a legal claim to close me down?
While it sounds bogus to me, the question you have asked is not the correct
one. The *correct* question is, do you have the money to fight and win a
legal fight over the issue? It's not enough to be right- you need to have
the resources to prove it.
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John Molinda <johnmolinda@yahoo.com> wrote:
: There is a fast food chain that only serves cereal, and it's called
: "Ceriality" web site is http://www.ceriality.com
: They claim to have a patent pending on their idea. I think this is an
: interesting idea and would be interested in opening a similar type
: place myself. The people at Ceriality claim they have a patent pending
: for the idea. That to me sounds like Ford or GM patening the steering
: wheel or Starbucks patening the idea to sell coffe in a retail cafe,
: or SUBWAY patening the idea of a sit down hoggie shop, McDs patening
: fast food hamburgers.
: In any case, if I open a restaurant that only sells fast cereal meals
: in boxes but call it something else, design the inside differentley,
: would they have a legal claim to close me down? The *only* similarity
: would be that the two stores allow people to buy combinations of
: cereal mixes and milk.
John,
First off, let me say that I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY. I hold a few US
patents, and have spoken with a few patent attorneys in the filing of my
patents, but I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY, AND ANYTHING I SAY IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE.
Anyone can apply for a US patent for anything but a patent will
(should) not be granted for an idea unless it is unique (i.e. hasn't been
patented before) and is not "obvious to anyone skilled in the art."
Although the patent examiner will research other prior art in the field
and make the decision whether or not to grant the patent, he is not
legally responsible to find all prior art for that patent, and more
vaguely, the granting of a patent doesn't necessarily legally validate
that the above two tests were met. Any patent can be challenged in court,
where it may be invalidated (or more strongly validated by surviving a
challenge in the courts.)
Prosecuting (and defending) a patent infringement lawsuit is
extremely expensive, and (at least in my field) these are usually settled
out of court. However, the statutes do provide for treble damages if it
can be proven (like with this usenet posting) that someone knowingly
violated an existing patent (not sure how this applies to pending
patents) so be careful what you say and who you talk to if you are truly
serious about marketing a competing/similar idea that someone may have
patented. Find a patent attorney with specific experience in the field
that you are interested in.
I probably haven't answered the specific question that you asked
(i.e. would they be able to close you down if you opened a similar type
of store) because I think even an attorney would have a hard time
answering that question at this point. A quick search on www.uspto.gov
doesn't turn up any patents or published applications for Cereality (if
they did, indeed file any patent applications, they wouldn't be published
until 1.5 years after they were initially filed) so without seeing the
specific claims of the patent, I think it would be really hard to give any
real concrete advice. But, then again, I AM NOT A LAWYER.
Hope that helped, at least a little,
Joe
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There is a fast food chain that only serves cereal, and it's called
"Ceriality" web site is http://www.ceriality.com
They claim to have a patent pending on their idea. I think this is an
interesting idea and would be interested in opening a similar type
place myself. The people at Ceriality claim they have a patent pending
for the idea. That to me sounds like Ford or GM patening the steering
wheel or Starbucks patening the idea to sell coffe in a retail cafe,
or SUBWAY patening the idea of a sit down hoggie shop, McDs patening
fast food hamburgers.
In any case, if I open a restaurant that only sells fast cereal meals
in boxes but call it something else, design the inside differentley,
would they have a legal claim to close me down? The *only* similarity
would be that the two stores allow people to buy combinations of
cereal mixes and milk.
The whole realm of patents seems to be more of a subjective than
objective practice, a patent attorney MIGHT be able to answer your
question. A lot of them will talk to you for free for a little while
to answer general questions, go down the list in a big phone book and
ask them all, you might get a free answer. I find it hard to imagine
what exactly it is that they could get a 'utility' patent on, which is
'things'. Maybe a 'design' patent, which is 'looks'(Golden Arches). I
don't believe any patent is enforcible while it is 'pending', and I
don't believe you can be held liable for any encroachments while one
is pending, even to the point of making direct copies of the pending
article. Once it is granted and published and you keep encroaching,
then you're liable. I don't think you can patent an idea, it seems
that would be more of a copyright thing, and only then if it was
published. I'm pretty sure also that to falsly claim something is
patented is a crime. I would think to falsly claim something is patent
pending is a crime also. E-mail the US PAT. office and ask them if
they can tell you if that company has a patent pending. BTW, this is
not legal advice, I am not a patent or any kind of attorney,
everything I say is fiction, you never saw me do it, you can't prove I
did it, they're coming to take me away, etc. Good luck,Sam
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There is a fast food chain that only serves cereal, and it's called
"Ceriality" web site is http://www.ceriality.com
They claim to have a patent pending on their idea. I think this is an
interesting idea and would be interested in opening a similar type
place myself. The people at Ceriality claim they have a patent pending
for the idea. That to me sounds like Ford or GM patening the steering
wheel or Starbucks patening the idea to sell coffe in a retail cafe,
or SUBWAY patening the idea of a sit down hoggie shop, McDs patening
fast food hamburgers.
In any case, if I open a restaurant that only sells fast cereal meals
in boxes but call it something else, design the inside differentley,
would they have a legal claim to close me down? The *only* similarity
would be that the two stores allow people to buy combinations of
cereal mixes and milk.
You could give Ceriality a call and ask them.
Should you decide to go ahead you would have to hope Ceriality does
not find your post to misc.legal.moderated, because your letter seems
to show your intent to infringe on their patent.
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