"Robert J. Bradbury" wrote:
>
> On Fri, 1 Oct 1999, Jeff Davis wrote:
>
> > Which lead to my question.
> >
> > Does a patent prohibit all unlicensed use of the patented thingie, or just
> > the unlicensed *commercial* use?
>
> My impression is that a patent in no way prevents any use. A patent
> "holder" is allowed to dictate/enforce that it can not be used
> (by anyone). So you have to go into court and prove that the
> patent was infringed. The only possible exception to this that I'm
> aware of is that you may be allowed to infringe on patents if it can be
> demonstrated you are doing so in the process of developing something for
> FDA approval (in the U.S.).
You can build a patented device for personal use, but not for commercial gain.