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Patent vs Open source

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ataradov:

--- Quote from: RoGeorge on July 12, 2021, 06:29:08 am ---It's not your job to look for similar already existing patents, the patent office will do that anyway.

--- End quote ---
USPTO just grants all properly submitted patents and lets the courts decide who is correct. Given the number of patents submitted, they can't realistically do a thorough check on each one. This system allows only contested patents to be checked.

nctnico:

--- Quote from: RoGeorge on July 12, 2021, 06:29:08 am ---It's not your job to look for similar already existing patents, the patent office will do that anyway.

--- End quote ---
No. They will just patent it. It is YOUR job to research whether a patent is actually new or not. The patent office doesn't care and they won't check. That is why you can find many patents describing the same device. It is up to the lawyers to figure out who is first and which part is actually new. A long time ago I had a client who filed a patent which was also granted. On top of that the client hired someone to asses the novelty of the patent; it turned out nothing was new in the patent. IOW: getting the patent was a huge waste of money.

voltsandjolts:
Step 1: Patent offices will be happy to take your money and file your patent, after a not-very-thorough prior art search. A patent agent working on your behalf would be more thorough but more $.

Step 2: License your product in the penny-pinching consumer product arena. Make $0.005 per device sold. Minus taxes.

Step 3: Manufacturers like your idea, bypass your patent with their very similar but different design, you get nothing.

Step 4: Copy-cat manufacturers like your idea, copy it, don't care about patents (probably not enforced in their country in any meaningful way), you get nothing.

Step 5: Pay legal costs to fight the above and block imports breaching your patent, get your day in court. more $ (never ending).

Unless you already have deep pockets at step 1 and a very profitable invention, don't waste your time and money on patents.

Also, in general, I would avoid consumer products.
Target industrial products where profit margin has better potential, use the patent $ to buy necessary approvals CE, UL etc and be good at what you do.
That's arguably a better barrier to the competition than a patent, per $ spent.
IMHO.

retiredfeline:
Another thing is jurisdiction. Your government may subsidise patents in India. But that doesn't give you a patent in other jurisdictions. If you hope to sell to other jurisdictions, you have to file there. Which gets expensive quickly.

sandalcandal:
A patent isn't just for trying to sue copy-cats.

It's a bit BS but the nature of the game is that just saying you have a patent can open up doors. Both personally for yourself by being able to have it on your CV or if this were a larger/more serious commercial venture then VCs or other investors wouldn't bother throwing their money at something that isn't "protected" by patents.

If you can get a patent affordably, even if it's only locally in India then I think it's "better than nothing" and potentially helpful. Even if you aren't even trying to enforce it still gives some precedence to help ward off and defend against potential patent trolls. It could also help open the door to local small business/entrepreneurial funds or government grants. Much better than standing around "naked".

I think when people (that know what they're saying) say a patent isn't worth it they mean: the cost of filling the patent for an idea (in that country) is not commensurate the business potential (maximum revenue) of that idea. There are definitely cases where it can worth it however: if it's heavily subsidised/encouraged locally or as part of a significant corporate venture.

There are often questions asked to the nature of "why you don't have a patent" rather than "how do you intend to enforce your patent". Obviously the second won't come at all without the first question. Imagine someone telling you "I have this cool, new and innovative product idea, can I have some of your time/money for it? Oh and by the way it I'm not patenting it." vs saying "and yes I've got a patent for it." The consumer doesn't really give a toss as long as they get a good product but anyone else involved putting resources (time or money) in is going to feel a bit less secure.

---
I wonder if it's possible to patent something then opensource the licence to that patent? best of both worlds for your case? I can imaging there being some resentment in the purist, hard-line opensource community.

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