Maybe this anecdote helps? A recent client has asked me not to research certain products related to what we are designing to preserve "deniability" of IP infringement. He has asked his lawyers to thoroughly research the IP and be the people who validate whether there is an issue or not. I can do the research, but I'd be exposing myself, by my choice. I prefer to not actively look into related products and be free to develop ideas. If I come up with something that's patented, I have more freedom to explore/proceed with those ideas because I can claim that I came up with them on my own.
In the same way, there's a request that we avoid discussion of patents on this list. We can honor that request, or not. I think the suggestion is that we will all be protecting ourselves if we did. If not, that's your call. ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
