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Patents are long term intangible assets. There are two reasons to patent a technology. 1) Protection. Pharmaceutical companies invest billions in drug developme
by PerryStallings 16y ago
Patents are long term intangible assets. There are two reasons to patent a technology.
1) Protection. Pharmaceutical companies invest billions in drug development. Patents protect them from low cost providers coming in without the dev cost.
2) Licensing. The Unreal game engine is in hundreds of games.
However with the accelerated development and apllication schedule in the tech industry, it is often more profitable to keep the technology in house. Unless you are developing products for licensing don't worry about patents. Conversely, startups that try to get into the patent game are not likely to have developed anything worth worrying about. Remember, the patent process takes time and you as the patent holder are required to police their property.
- staunch 16y ago> 2) Licensing. The Unreal game engine is in hundreds of games. You can license the right to use a patent, but you don't have to have a patent to license technology you own. Epic Games owns the engine technology (source code, documentation, data files, etc) that licensees pay for the right to use.