Sorry for the light posting…I took some vacation and have been buried in other projects.

I did receive the following question from a reader today:

I have my grandmother’s old hand-operated meat grinder.  On it is imprinted:

PAT.MCH. 4.’02.

Does this mean that it was the fourth patent issued in 1902?

I’ll appreciate any information you can provide.

My response would be:  I doubt it.  To the best of my knowledge, I don’t know how you’d even easily determine what the fourth patent issued in 1902 was, let alone would that have necessarily been information the Patent Office would have provided to a patentee.

If Buchanan is done standing in the bathroom taking pictures, maybe he (patent marking plate expert) can answer it.  Or…perhaps one of my readers can decipher the marking (the comments are open).

Related posts:

1. Question from Reader: Restriction Requirements
2. Question from reader: IP from Defendant’s Point of View