2 ms·

First, I apologize for being somewhat presumptuous - clearly this was a very distressing and unfortunate series of events where your legitimate interests were h

by zmmmmm 14y ago

First, I apologize for being somewhat presumptuous - clearly this was a very distressing and unfortunate series of events where your legitimate interests were harmed in pretty shady ways. The only thing I'd add is that from what you've described, you would / should have had perfectly good legal redress completely independent of patents. The kinds of problems you describe would normally be addressed through contract and trade secrets law - presumably you had NDAs, contracts that protected your interests with contractors, etc. If those didn't work or you didn't have the resources to follow them through then I'm not sure you can presume patents would have been different.

robomartin 14y ago
No worries. I understand that it is hard to communicate or see both sides of something through this medium. Legal action is a funny thing. I get the sense that people think that it's easy, that in the US it's as easy as making a phone call and you've got a lawsuit. The reality, in my experience, is quite different. In business at least, it's part of the arms race. Can you sue a multi-billion dollar corporation for violating an NDA? Absolutely. The very first thing you lawyer will require is a $250,000 "war chest" and a demonstrable means to be in it for twice that much. It's a game you cannot win even if the truth is on your side. That's another misconception of my youth that got washed away with a bucket of ice-cold water. You don't necessarily win because you are on the right side of an argument. I'll give you another example. I had a case where my most valuable reseller, a company with great standing in the industry, was effectively bribed by said multinational corporation to exclude our products from their exhibit at a trade show. I have copies of the emails between employees of the company and the CEO of the reseller outfit. Could I sue? Sure. Was there potential for federal antitrust action. Very likely. Was I on the right side of the issue? Without a doubt. Was I guaranteed a win? Absolutely not. The more likely outcome would have been that seeking legal action would have ruined my business in more ways than one. Don't get me wrong, I've taken legal action when justified and, more importantly, the "army's" were reasonably matched. In other cases you sometimes have to lick your wounds and move on. This is the kind of stuff they don't teach you about in school. I can't say that I am grateful to have learned it this way because it is a shitty way to learn things, but sometimes there's no other way. I am still a very enthusiastic entrepreneur with multiple projects cooking. Life is good.

by zmmmmm 14y ago

robomartin 14y ago

No worries. I understand that it is hard to communicate or see both sides of something through this medium. Legal action is a funny thing. I get the sense that people think that it's easy, that in the US it's as easy as making a phone call and you've got a lawsuit. The reality, in my experience, is quite different. In business at least, it's part of the arms race. Can you sue a multi-billion dollar corporation for violating an NDA? Absolutely. The very first thing you lawyer will require is a $250,000 "war chest" and a demonstrable means to be in it for twice that much. It's a game you cannot win even if the truth is on your side. That's another misconception of my youth that got washed away with a bucket of ice-cold water. You don't necessarily win because you are on the right side of an argument. I'll give you another example. I had a case where my most valuable reseller, a company with great standing in the industry, was effectively bribed by said multinational corporation to exclude our products from their exhibit at a trade show. I have copies of the emails between employees of the company and the CEO of the reseller outfit. Could I sue? Sure. Was there potential for federal antitrust action. Very likely. Was I on the right side of the issue? Without a doubt. Was I guaranteed a win? Absolutely not. The more likely outcome would have been that seeking legal action would have ruined my business in more ways than one. Don't get me wrong, I've taken legal action when justified and, more importantly, the "army's" were reasonably matched. In other cases you sometimes have to lick your wounds and move on. This is the kind of stuff they don't teach you about in school. I can't say that I am grateful to have learned it this way because it is a shitty way to learn things, but sometimes there's no other way. I am still a very enthusiastic entrepreneur with multiple projects cooking. Life is good.