With respect to patents expiring we should all know that they can be extended. In the youtube I watched they stated Steve Gass was working to make that happen. I know he sold the rights but apparently still has some involvemennt, likely defending and extending the patents. So I do not trust that as a complete solution. I think the commission should negotiate a deal with SS and anybody else claiming to have patent protection that offers other table saw providers a fixed price for the right to use any applicable patents. Apparently things like this are done in the telecommunications industry.
Patents are a big legal cost area. If you own a patent, you will need to sue people who violate it to get them to stop. That happened when Bosch tried to introduce their saw. It is not always the merits of the claim of the parties that decides these suits. Often it is who has the deepest pockets and will fight the hardest and longest. This is just my speculation but I think Bosch gave up not because SS was right but because it was more than they thought the U. S. table saw market could return to them. SS has been aggressive in the past so I don't trust that they would not be again. Issuing a mandate without a deal with them and any others with rights just sets us up to not have any new table saws in the U. S. other than those sold by SS. Unknown costs will not support manufacturers continuing in our market.
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Originally Posted by Jim Dwight
) I would look at the tens of patents surrounding my product and find one that was breached, namely, the saw touching the finger triggering the activation. Everything else being different doesn't matter.