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I know there are other products out there similar to the one my partner and I are working on. We are a new start up and want to be sure that we don't get into any trouble in the future by stepping on a patent. What I would like to know is if my product is similar to someone elses, would it infringe on their patent?

I will use this as an example. Say we are inventing a radio. The other companies radio patent says it does so many different things. Our radio will use different electronics internally, operate slightly differently with mostly the same results. Let me try to clarify....

Competitors Radio - Works off 4 AA batteries, uses a push button to turn it on and off, uses a knob to change the channels and has 1 speaker to put out the sound.

Our Radio - Works off 4 AA batteries, uses a push button to turn it on and off, uses a knob to change the channels and has 1 speaker to put out the sound and beeps when the batteries gets low.

While they do the same things and get the results, the internal electronics are different and ours does one extra thing. Are we infringing on our competitors patent? I know it sounds confusing and I apologize.

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3 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

Adding a feature doesn't exclude you from a patent. And changing how the internal electronics work won't exclude you from a patent if the patent doesn't include the internal electronics. They could have patented a device with 4 batteries, a knob, and a speaker. So the question becomes, what has the competitor patented? The patent numbers are sometimes advertised by the company or on the product. And don't forget that someone else could have patents covering your product that isn't your competitor at all.

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The patent has drawings but are very vague. So the interals are different, we know that for a fact the the function is basically the same. That is why I'm concerned. – Mike Serpe Sep 5 '11 at 19:57
@Mike, Vagueness could be intentional to cover similar products. – BMitch Sep 5 '11 at 20:44
@BMitch........if that's the case, then it would present a monoploy situation which would be illegal. Grrr..... – Mike Serpe Sep 6 '11 at 0:12
@Mike, patents are a legalized monopoly by definition. – BMitch Sep 6 '11 at 1:08
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Guess it's time to blow some money on a lawyer..... – Mike Serpe Sep 6 '11 at 14:54
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Here's a related question that you might want to take a look:

How do I know if I am infringing on a technology patent?

Coming back to your question, are you sure that the competitor company actually has patent on those "features" which you're talking about? It's not necessary that since they provide those features, they have got patent(s).

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The claims in the patent are very similar if not the same as to what our product does. – Mike Serpe Sep 5 '11 at 19:56
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@Mike Serpe Then it sounds like they have a very strong case for infringement by your product, unfortunately. – Chelonian Sep 6 '11 at 2:31
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it could be that their patent is very weak (if it's too vague) and would be easily defeated after an expensive legal fight. Your call.

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