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I've been thinking about a new idea I want to work on. After searching the USPTO, I found that there are many (hundreds) of patents around what I am wanting to work on, with a slew being very similar to my idea.

After reading through a bunch of these patents, I found myself getting really upset with how vague they were. Nothing explicitly matched my idea, but they were effective at striking fear into my heart and have almost dissuaded me from trying. However, my gut tells me to build it first and get permission later.

I get a feeling that almost any entrepreneur with an idea could find a patent that may be very close to what they want to do.

How should I handle all this IP mess? Keep in mind that cash is a precious resource at this stage.

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3 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

Every startup, check, every company in the world has the same exact problem. There are patents relating to just about everything out there. There are armies of people who think about things that someone might want to do someday, even if it is not technologically feasible today, and then they get a patent on it.

You should forget that you ever looked at these and press on. Here are some thoughts to give you comfort.

  • The patents may not cover what you think they do. Patents cover exactly what is expressed in the claims, and no more. The claims are the numbered sentences at the end. In order to infringe a patent, you have to infringe a claim. In order to infringe a claim, you have to do everything listed in the claim. If you do nine out of ten things listed in a claim, then you do not infringe.
  • You only get targeted by patent owners if you are making a lot of money. Hiring patent attorneys is very expensive, and people don't waste their time suing companies with a small amount of revenue.

The flip side is that if you become successful enough, you will almost certainly be accused of patent infringement. It is just a fact of doing business these days...

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Interesting. Any idea what happens if you have an improvement, and do 11 out of those 10? – Imbrondir Oct 31 '11 at 18:52
up vote 1 down vote

Go back in time and stop yourself reading those patents. If you can be proven to have been aware of a patent (and a question like yours above might count as evidence in court!) and are later found to have infringed it, you could be liable for triple damages for infringement.

The only sensible course of action is never to read patents that are still "live". If you must read patents, only read ones that have expired (or ones that you have a license to use already).

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up vote 2 down vote

It's all a silly game where the only one's that really benefit are the lawyers. As Kekito says, they only go after you when you have some money, so if you have some money you can always create a randomly generated patent as defense.

You'd probably never go into business if you checked all patents, so ignore them and focus on making basic revenues.

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It typically takes 3-4 years to get a patent so if you want one for defensive purposes you need to plan ahead! – user6603 Apr 16 '11 at 13:59
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If you're going to get a defensive patent, try to join the Open Invention Network and benefit from their defensive patent pool. And gain major kudos from developers at the same time. – Robin Green Apr 16 '11 at 16:56
The OIN is specific to Linux, it's unlikely this relates to Linux. – David Apr 16 '11 at 19:49

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