On Jun 6, 2008, at 1:34 PM, Katie Albers wrote:
Although I realize this may be too little, too late, since I already
posted info about the issues of patents in general...Let me caution
everyone that while you may believe that discussing patents is not
an issue for you -- There is no way to predict whether it may become
an issue in the future.
Sage advice.
Some things I've learned about this topic via past experience and
things they don't teach you in school.
1. If you don't know the law, don't assume you know the consequences
based on "common sense." Act accordingly. This may sound like a CYA
mentality, but it's really not. Would you cross a dark street without
looking both ways? Same goes for patents and legal matters in high-
tech product design. Just make sure you know the legal ramifications
of anything you do *before* you go out and do it.
2. While you can reasonably argue in court that you have no control
over certain circumstances, that is not always necessarily the point.
Some people instigate lawsuits not for the purpose or following
through on a patent, but they do so to force it on others who may not
be able to afford a legal defense to either drive them out of business
by making them burn money or get a beneficial out of court settlement.
Patents are sometimes a tool to be used for this purpose. You have to
do whatever you can to make sure you don't put yourself in a position
of exposure to these kind of actions. Yes, they will happen and you
can't 100% avoid them, but you have to be proactive, not defensive, as
much as possible here.
3. Lawyers are the most annoying people on the planet, except the ones
who are helping you. And by annoying, I know a lot of people on this
list can't stand and are annoyed by how I parse terminology to the
point of splitting hairs, but I guarantee you I'm a rank amateur next
to a high powered executive lawyer. That kind of annoying.
4. The hardest lessons to learn in this area are the ones from
lawyers, mostly because by the time you learn the lesson it's already
too late, as Katie mentioned above. Be proactive and educate yourself
as much as you can so you don't have to be schooled by a lawyer.
--
Andrei Herasimchuk
Principal, Involution Studios
innovating the digital world
e. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
c. +1 408 306 6422
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