As it turns out, there are as many origin stories for barbecue as there are spellings of the word on neon signs. These explanations range from a linguistic attempt to connect barbecue to boucan (also French) to a tall tale tracing barbecue to a Texas rancher who happened to brand the initials B.Q. on his livestock.
Patent protection usually ends when the patent expires. Here are the expiration dates: For all utility patents filed before June 8, 1995, the patent term is 20 years from date of filing, or 17 years from date of issuance, whichever period is longer.
Even if the scope of a patent is narrowed, reexamination does not change the original expiration date. A reexamined patent expires on the day the original granted patent would have ordinarily expired. Example: The validity of a patent (filing: January 1, 2000; issue: January 1, 2002; end: January 1, 2020) is challenged.