SNAP-Open bags are described in WIPO patent application # WO 02/49928 for making plastic bags in either gusseted (shopping, grocery, bread) or non-gusseted configurations (produce, refuse, utility, freezer, food packaging, bin liner, etc.)
"Do I really need to worry about patents?" or "I can see how it works, so why do I need a License, why can't I just make this stuff?" or "How can you patent a bag, for goodness' sake?"
For many manufacturers, dealing with patents and licenses is an unfamiliar thing, because much of the technology used is now out-of-patent. For example, thick-thin bags are subject of a patent to Leco Ltd of Montreal, who later sold it to DuPont; but by now the patent is expired and public domain, and people can legally use public-domain technology for free. This gives some people the idea that you can't patent bags -- but that's not so: there are hundreds of patents on bags. Patents give strong monopoly rights in exchange for disclosing a technology (the patent document "teaches" how to solve some problem in a new way) that will after a fixed time become public domain.
I.e. if you want to wait 20 years you may be able to use patented technology for free ... but by then the competition that got licenses will probably have gained a lot of market from you.(Or ... if you find someone making the bags without a License ... contact us and following our successful prosecution and settlement we will give you a reward ... Yes, we are well prepared to deal with infringers.)
How to know a SNAP™ bag:
... look for some means of making the two panels accessible,
so that one can grip them separately and shear them apart between the grasping
points. Mainly:
[1] in a side-gusseted bag (side-pleated): are
the front and back panels offset from one another, so that gripping at
the bag edges results in gripping one panel with each hand, so you can pull and
shear them against each other?
[2]
in
a
flat
bag
(no pleats at the edge): are there cutout parts that let you grip panels separately,
so that pulling from these places results in shearing the panels against each
other?
--download patent info cover page without going to WIPO site --
Please note: this website omits many possible embodiments which could use the technology in this IP (intellectual property). Contact us if you wish to use the technology in a way not listed on this site. To avoid infringing this IP, be sure you understand what the IP is; briefly with absolutely no intention to replace or limit the meaning of the technical legal language, the IP includes several means of implementation of the method of separating adhering layers by tensioning them in opposing directions, so as to shear them apart. A patent is not like a registered design, one does not get around a patent by trivial change to a colour or texture or dimension or a shape that has no consequence to the performance of the product. You can make all the usual public-domain flat or gusseted bags, but once you use our IP to make them better and easier to open etc., you are using our technology and you can expect us to come knocking to collect back royalties, damages, costs, etc. (better to negotiate a License -- for a small royalty you can join the team and have access to the IP, and the marketing tools, graphics, etc., and we'll be able to refer people to you in your area). If in doubt, check. You don't have to take our word for it -- public resources are available (free!) to you in most countries to help you determine what is infringement and what is not (e.g., in Canada, contact the Canadian Intellectual Property Office; search on web for "CIPO" and then look for 'business advisor').
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation) has published the SNAP-open bag application; reference number is WO 02/49928. The full application, including the WIPO search report, can be seen via the WIPO web site (http://ipdl.wipo.int/). Sites do get reorganised, but this general approach will find it for you.
You can search for the number, or use keywords as follows:
--go to the WIPO web site (http://ipdl.wipo.int/)
--at left is button "search IPDL"
--that takes you to a screen that says 'Search Page' and at the top is PCT
... "Guest Access", click guest access
--under 'search' click "all"
--then type into the box “in/bell and et/interlayer”
--click 'search'
--the list that appears should contain "Method of opening for bags of supple
polymeric material subject to interlayer cling" --- click that and up comes
the first page summary
--to get photocopy-like images of all pages, click on the upper left button
"view images".
Those familiar with standard methods will notice that making the side-gusseted SNAP-open bag (according to WO 02/49928) does not require new equipment or machinery. The procedures for flat bags, also in the WIPO patent application, involve only trivial additions (punches). There are also solutions applicable to automated packaging (make thin bags readily machine-openable), and these again present no particular problem in manufacturing.
This can be really interesting, and if you have any interest in technology, it's worth getting to know it.
Patents and applications can be searched at many
national government sites worldwide. Some good places to start are:
Canadian Intellectual Property Office http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrksv/cipo/welcome/welcom-e.html
U.S. Patent Office http://www.uspto.gov
World Intellectual Property Organisation http://ipdl.wipo.int/en/search/search.shtml (here,
as with some other sites, you can create a guest account).
(None of this consitutes advice or carries any guarantee, it is merely offered
as a sharing of personal experience.)
A good search strategy is to first search using keywords,
then browse the results until
you find one or more that are close to what you are looking
for.
From
those, get the classifications, and then search on those. The searches
will return the item you began with, plus others. You can repeat this as you
find items even closeer to what you are looking for, until you
are sure you have the classification in which your target must reside.
The WIPO site has a part where you can look up classifications,
but it's intended for experts.
Once you have a good idea of how your idea (if that's why you are
searching) relates to other patented ideas, and
you
will
have
given
your
patent
agent
a good start (and a good patent agent will be glad of anything that saves him
time and saves you money).
Remember that patents are very tightly defined pieces of property.
Even if you find things similar to the thing you invented does not mean
there isn't "room" there for a patent on your improvement. But
think carefully of how you are going to market it, who will it take market from,
whom could the improvement benefit, etc. Also, if you patent an improvement on
an existing patent, you may still need an agreement with the holder of that patent
to be able to use your own idea -- i.e. if your idea is "free-standing",
i.e.
not infringing on a presently in-force patent, great; but suppose
your improvement only adds something to the clever triple-cylinder brake caliper
patented
last year
by
AcmeVaporMotorCorp and is no use except in the context of that particular patented
item,
then
it is not "free-standing" and you'll need a license for AcmeVaporMotorCorp's
technology
before
you can use your own.
In essence, as written in a source I can't remember, a
patent does not give you the right to make your invention, but it gives you the
right to stop others making it.
Ironic that you want to get people using your invention, by using
the patent which is a tool that lets you prevent them making it.