Quoted:
There are rules about items being in general commerce before the patent is issued.

Some patent applications are available for examination.

Don't rip someone off.

If you are not seeking a patent of your own there is little other purpose to the questions you have asked.

Quoted:
If something is listed as "patent pending", is it legal to produce something similar, since the patent has not been granted yet?

It usually is just fine.  I'm not going to offer advice on here but do some google searches and you will likely see that a "patent pending" holder has few if any rights regarding infringement.  Generally the only rights that they may have are if it is published and the claims are similar to what eventually issues.   Until one gets notice, there is likely no problem.  

As a slight digression, don't worry at all about people making accusations about "ripping off."  It is a silly attitude on this board and one that has little merit.  Unless one files for patent protection, they are effectively giving their product to the public.    It's as simple as that.


If it's listed as "patent pending", with an actual number, is there any way to look up and see what they are trying to patent?
If it is published you can likely find it.  If it is a provisional, within 18 months of filing, or had a non-publication request, then you can not.


Basically, I figured out a way to improve an existing product that is marked "patent pending".  I do not want to cause any problems for myself with patent infringement, but I wouldn't mind making these items if I can do it legally.  I've read on a couple of patent sights that you can pretty much copy items that say "patent pending", because they don't have the actual patent rights yet.  They continued on to say that some companies will just keep amending a "patent pending" application for years to prevent someone from copying their product because they won't know exactly what patent is pending, and won't want to tie up money in tooling and production only to find out later that have to stop.  Which is why they say it's good to not give out the patent pending number.  I have that number, but I'm not sure where to find out what exactly it is that they are patenting.

See above.

My understanding was that if you were making something that would violate the patent, you must cease to produce it once the patent is approved.
If it is ever approved.

The info I was reading said that some people prefer a "patent pending" over the actual patent because the patent lays out exactly what the product is, making it easy for someone to copy.  If it was a patent pending and they didn't give out the number, you would have no way to know what was being patented.  It went on to say that litigation for patent infringement is so costly, it makes it somewhat prohibitive.  That's why they prefer the uncertainty of patent pending.

That is generally not true.  As mentioned earlier, you have little rights with a pending status.  While it is a speedbump to other competitors, if there is enough money to be had, it won't substantially slow them down.  Remember, patent litigation is costly on both sides.  Often time as a patent holder you get an automatic licensee from an infringer.  


I don't know how much of that is true, and I know the best thing is to talk to a patent lawyer, but I just wanted to get a general idea of what to expect from the fine folks at arfcom.  I'm not looking to rip a company off, and I'm not looking for any kind of problems, I would just like to find out what the options are.  

Thanks in advance.