4 ms·

Dude. I just submitted two patents. Patents are the only way a small company can get an edge. And yes, there is more than software and IT in this world. Good l

Dude. I just submitted two patents. Patents are the only way a small company can get an edge. And yes, there is more than software and IT in this world. Good luck to raise non IT capital in tech without patents.

birdyrooster 5y ago
Even if the patents are accepted, you will still have to defend it in court because other patents could have been filed earlier which have significant overlap of your patented idea which could invalidate everything. I have personally seen engineers getting patents granted for technology which is obviously already in use elsewhere and is already patented. USPTO is a joke especially for software based inventions. I just want to know, how can anyone even claim to know they aren't infringing on some part of one of the nearly 300,000 patents granted yearly?
- imtringued 5y ago
  Interesting so patents do not offer legal protection. They offer you a promise of legal protection and that promise is very weak. If the patent office can't do its job then how is the system supposed to work?
  - loceng 5y ago
    It's part of the legal-lawyer industrial complex - which ties into VC-finance industrial complex.
  - pacman2 5y ago
    The USPTO checks for prior art. The result is not set in stone but if they don't find prior art then they grant the patent. The patent can then still be challenged in court by other companies.
  - OldHand2018 5y ago
    > Interesting so patents do not offer legal protection. There are generally two legal fields related to patents - patent prosecution (getting the patent) and patent litigation (fighting in court). There is not very much overlap between the lawyers; each is very specialized. People get patents for a lot of different reasons, only one of which is to hold up in court. If that’s what you want, you have to hire lawyers that will make that happen. It costs more money and takes more time, but if you want a patent that holds up in court you have to hire the right people to write it correctly, from the very beginning of the process. Again, this is not what everyone wants. Most patents are intended to be for defensive, negotiation, or vanity purposes - the expense involved with making it bulletproof is just not worth it.
errantmind 5y ago
Your edge is agility and bringing your following with you to a superior product. If you have no following then maybe it is time to acquire one. Personal brand is the future, like it or not > Good luck to raise non IT capital in tech without patents Again, this wouldn't be a problem if there were no patents
- pacman2 5y ago
  No. Lets take the most extreme example. Medicine. Development and clinical trials cost you more than a billion. Why would I risk this? I let you develop it, I let you do the clinical trials and then just copy it. Even better. I can always sell cheaper than you since I don't have to recover investment costs. The patents are the only incentives for the investors to accept the risk.
  - betaby 5y ago
    > Why would I risk this? Because you don't. Most of the medical research in the world is government sponsored (yes, including USA).
    - seibelj 5y ago
      My wife has worked for a series of VC funded immunotherapy startups. No government money funding them. If there were no biotech patents it’s hard for me to see why anyone would invest hundreds of millions into these tiny companies. The money doesn’t go to salaries - it goes to equipment, supplies, and trials. Central planners spending other people’s money cannot possibly compete with the private system.
      - betaby 5y ago
        Your example is anecdotal, while search shows that most of the medical research is gov money via universities.
        seibelj 5y ago
deleted 5y ago
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birdyrooster 5y ago

Even if the patents are accepted, you will still have to defend it in court because other patents could have been filed earlier which have significant overlap of your patented idea which could invalidate everything. I have personally seen engineers getting patents granted for technology which is obviously already in use elsewhere and is already patented. USPTO is a joke especially for software based inventions. I just want to know, how can anyone even claim to know they aren't infringing on some part of one of the nearly 300,000 patents granted yearly?

imtringued 5y ago
Interesting so patents do not offer legal protection. They offer you a promise of legal protection and that promise is very weak. If the patent office can't do its job then how is the system supposed to work?
- loceng 5y ago
  It's part of the legal-lawyer industrial complex - which ties into VC-finance industrial complex.
- pacman2 5y ago
  The USPTO checks for prior art. The result is not set in stone but if they don't find prior art then they grant the patent. The patent can then still be challenged in court by other companies.
- OldHand2018 5y ago
  > Interesting so patents do not offer legal protection. There are generally two legal fields related to patents - patent prosecution (getting the patent) and patent litigation (fighting in court). There is not very much overlap between the lawyers; each is very specialized. People get patents for a lot of different reasons, only one of which is to hold up in court. If that’s what you want, you have to hire lawyers that will make that happen. It costs more money and takes more time, but if you want a patent that holds up in court you have to hire the right people to write it correctly, from the very beginning of the process. Again, this is not what everyone wants. Most patents are intended to be for defensive, negotiation, or vanity purposes - the expense involved with making it bulletproof is just not worth it.

errantmind 5y ago

Your edge is agility and bringing your following with you to a superior product. If you have no following then maybe it is time to acquire one. Personal brand is the future, like it or not > Good luck to raise non IT capital in tech without patents Again, this wouldn't be a problem if there were no patents

pacman2 5y ago
No. Lets take the most extreme example. Medicine. Development and clinical trials cost you more than a billion. Why would I risk this? I let you develop it, I let you do the clinical trials and then just copy it. Even better. I can always sell cheaper than you since I don't have to recover investment costs. The patents are the only incentives for the investors to accept the risk.
- betaby 5y ago
  > Why would I risk this? Because you don't. Most of the medical research in the world is government sponsored (yes, including USA).
  - seibelj 5y ago
    My wife has worked for a series of VC funded immunotherapy startups. No government money funding them. If there were no biotech patents it’s hard for me to see why anyone would invest hundreds of millions into these tiny companies. The money doesn’t go to salaries - it goes to equipment, supplies, and trials. Central planners spending other people’s money cannot possibly compete with the private system.
    - betaby 5y ago
      Your example is anecdotal, while search shows that most of the medical research is gov money via universities.
      - seibelj 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

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