Suppose a chemical invention was stolen from a "Nazi" during WWII? It was then patented by a pair of Manhattan Project scientists. However, due to its classified nature, those two patents weren't published until after that original German inventor died.
Now imagine the numerous patents derived from those two original patents (where those two patents appear as a citation at the bottom of each). Then imagine how much money was made when all of the above was used by industry (for the life of the original and subsequent patents).
Can that original inventor (or his representative now that he's dead) lay claim to all of the funds obtained from the sale or licence of those patent rights?
Bill Streifer ,
Note : I am not a lawyer and in this matter, it is better to seek the advise of a practising patent attorney.
Patent rights are claimed by country and current treaties exist on patent submission per WIPO. This did not exist during WWII (Patent Cooperation Treaty as far as I remeber dates to the 70's), but still, it is required that the examiner looks at the state of the art to determine if patenting is warranted and this does not preclude literature from other countries. From 37 CFR 5.3 (https://www.bitlaw.com/source/37cfr/5_3.html) the patents under secrecy orders are examined. It would be interesting to check the history of the C.F.R. to see if it applied at the time.
The second thing to consider is whether pursuing claims the country has first to file or first to invent rights under that country(and at that time). In the US the system changed from first to invent to first to file in September 2011 (but I do not know if the first to invent dated to those times you are referring to). This is relevant to determine if infringement was made as per your narrative.
Third most countries have statute of limitations (time limits to filing damages). This is more than likely to be the case with the original patent(s). Patents dervied from those (such as continuation in parts) must have additional inventive elements to be considered patentable. Going after those are difficult if they are still being enforced (ad statute of limitations may still apply).
The other part that I would highlight is that most patent systems deny double patenting, so even though it might appear that they are derivatives of the original invention, they are treated as independent (else they would be denied the right to a patent).
Hope this helps
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