the phrase "u.s patent" is written on some products?does that mean
that this product is american or made in the u.s?i am asking this
question because i read this phrase on a tennis racket,the strange
thing is that the trademark of this racket was "head" and i know that
"head" is an austrian trademark?

Dear hishmat-ga,

As a general statement, there is no restriction on where an applicant
lives or invents the item when applying for a US Patent. (There are
some restrictions regarding elapses of time and these are detailed on
the below page.)

?The patent laws of the United States make no discrimination with
respect to the citizenship of the inventor. Any inventor, regardless
of his/her citizenship, may apply for a patent on the same basis as a
U.S. citizen.?
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/foreign.htm

By registering the patent they are giving themselves the right to take
action in the US against any other person or company copying or
selling the item in the US. They would make similar patent
applications to the intellectual property authorities in other
countries. The place of manufacture is not relevant.

United States Patent and Trademark Office,
?The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the
statute and of the grant itself, ?the right to exclude others from
making, using, offering for sale, or selling? the invention in the
United States or ?importing? the invention into the United States.
What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or
import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering
for sale, selling or importing the invention. Once a patent is issued,
the patentee must enforce the patent without aid of the USPTO.?
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/index.html#patent


This is a patent by Head and you will see that they registered their
Austrian address.

Racket for ball games
Head Technology GmbH
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=head.ASNM.&OS=AN/head&RS=AN/head

I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder

Search strategy
site:www.uspto.gov "foreign application"
site:www.uspto.gov "foreign applicants"

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Request for Answer Clarification by hishmat-ga on 20 Sep 2006 10:24 PDT

my first question is that what does the term u.s patent mean?
the second question is:
the main reason i asked this question is that i am boycotting the u.s.a.
when buying a product which has a u.s patent,do i benefit the u.s.a in any way?

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Clarification of Answer by answerfinder-ga on 20 Sep 2006 11:42 PDT

Dear hishmat-ga,

U.S. patent means that the invention is registered at United States
Patent and Trademark Office. The inventor pays for the patent. It has
no connection with the place of manufacture or the location of the
owner of the patent. Therefore, you are not necessarily benefiting the
United States if you buy a product with 'US patent' on it.

It is difficult to tell where a product is manfactured. Some products
carry the words 'manufactured or produced in **'. Otherwise, you have
to contact the manufacturer to find out who owns it, where it is
produced and where it is sold; or conduct research on the internet.

Hope this answers your clarification request.
answerfinder-ga