This. A patent is not protection against competitors copying details of your product. A patent is a ticket to an incredibly expensive court battle. To a certai

This. A patent is not protection against competitors copying details of your product. A patent is a ticket to an incredibly expensive court battle. To a certain degree, it doesn't matter if your patent isn't completely valid, or doesn't completely match what your competitors are doing. The point is to have deeper pockets than them and be able to spend more on lawyers than them. As long as your patent lasts long enough in court to stop your competitors from doing whatever you don't want them to do, it has achieved its goal. Patents are so broken. (IANAL, just an MBA who's heard some war stories).