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Don Y[_3_]

On 2/22/2016 6:08 AM, wrote:
The trouble with patents is they are totally useless if you don't
defend them - and the cost of defence usually excededs the value of
the patent by a significant margin over the long term.

Exactly. Patents only make sense to big corporations with
intimidating legal departments.

From the standpoint of a naive teenager, "patent" sounded like
something neat and impressive: "Wow! This must be a really
GOOD idea if it is patented!"

But, it's like watching sausage being made: the reality is
often very different (i.e., it's just "who got there first
and who was willing to pay the filing fees and preparation
fees")

If you want to protect something, go the trade secret route
(copyright if it makes sense -- but, you're still left
trying to locate counterfeits and argue that they are,
in fact sufficiently identical to your original work).
Trade secret, however, relies on treating your employees
well enough that they won't spill the beans. Even NDA's
only require that you treat it as you would YOUR OWN
information (so, a guy who is loose with his own personal
data can't be held to a higher standard with yours!).

Or, by far, the best approach is to simply always have
something better that keeps customers coming back to you!
Let competitors copy your functionality (which can
usually be done in less effort/time than it took you
simply because you've already done most of the thinking
for them: "What should it do, how should it work")
but you spend your time and money coming out with the
NEXT, *better* device ("Why would I want that competitor's
device? It doesn't have these other new features, capabilities,
etc.")