Re:Crowdfunding Backer Patented My Project (2018)
by toss1 on Friday July 30, 2021 @06:26PM
(#28013177)
Nice lesson that a patent, other than some possible value to the marketing dept, is nothing more than a a ticket to start a lawsuit.
It does not actually prevent anyone else from infringing or doing what they want, unless and until they hire the lawyers to attempt to enforce it.
Having a lot of published prior art may form a decent moat. Sure, you'll have to defend, but if you fold, they get nothing, and if you sustain the defense, they'll likely lose the patent entirely.
She also makes a very good point about bridging patent- light and patent-heavy sectors/cultures.
Also relevant is Musk's choice with SpaceX at the other end of the scale -- to forego patents entirely in favor of the trade secret route. He figures that publishing in a patent would just be tantamount to publishing manuals for the Chinese and also be unenforceable...
Patents sometimes seem almost magic, but they're really quite limited.
It does not actually prevent anyone else from infringing or doing what they want, unless and until they hire the lawyers to attempt to enforce it.
Having a lot of published prior art may form a decent moat. Sure, you'll have to defend, but if you fold, they get nothing, and if you sustain the defense, they'll likely lose the patent entirely.
She also makes a very good point about bridging patent- light and patent-heavy sectors/cultures.
Also relevant is Musk's choice with SpaceX at the other end of the scale -- to forego patents entirely in favor of the trade secret route. He figures that publishing in a patent would just be tantamount to publishing manuals for the Chinese and also be unenforceable...
Patents sometimes seem almost magic, but they're really quite limited.