Poring Over Patents
There has been some discussion on patents before here on EB – how you need to have not just an idea, but also proof-of-concept, a physical prototype, and manufacturing process in mind to apply for a patent. How sometimes you need to have a patent to start your company, and sometimes they are worthless to you, and sometimes they are just a roadblock in your way. But sometimes it’s not the patents on YOUR idea that you are worried about. What happens if you have a brilliant, light-bulb-flash idea, and somebody ELSE seems to have patented it? Bugger! What can you do? That’s the situation I’ve been in this week. I’ve been poring over a ridiculous number of patents (okay, maybe not ridiculous, but 32 – that’s enough to make my brain hurt) to see if what I want to do is going to infringe anybody else’s patent. Here’s some of the things that you…