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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 o

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.

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.