Narendra Rocherolle at FoundRead discusses the disadvantages of patenting your inventions, especially if you are a startup company. He should know well, since he has 15 years of experience running dot com companies; he was the CEO of Webshots and now runs 30boxes.com (online calendar service). He says:
During the last 15 years (as part of several start-ups as well as large companies), I have listened to enough legal counsel to draw one important conclusion: patents are, quite simply, a pain in the neck. Sure, there are potential benefits of holding them, but the truth is that the cost—in time and dollars—of acquiring patent protections often outweighs any future gains from licensing fees, or litigation settlements. As sexy as it sounds to be a patent-holder, there are plenty of hurdles in the time-consuming, vaguely beneficial, and guaranteed-to-be-pricey world of intellectual property. Here are some things to consider before you hire an attorney and begin the application and review process. Read the full article
