The holders of those fundamental patents will not be Apple, they'll be the initial players in the smartphone market.

Bell's second fundamental patent expired on January 30, 1894, at which time the gates were then opened to independent telephone companies to compete with the Bell System.

A Canadian court last year ruled against Apotex's claim that the fundamental patent on Plavix had expired in 2003.

Lego's fundamental patents on the toy expired in 1978.

Coile's patents include the fundamental patents on Network Address Translation (NAT).

Dr. Emerson expects to receive tomorrow what appears to be a fundamental patent for his technique.

Watt retired in 1800, the same year that his fundamental patent and partnership with Boulton expired.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has made a preliminary decision to revoke three fundamental patents on human embryonic stem cells.

The fundamental patents on Tesla's system were issued on September 2, 1897, just two months after his announcement.

The filing of fundamental patents for web site design was in preparation.