Patents offer a unique form of protection, but only in specific countries where the patent is applied.
With a patent you can actually gain exclusivity with a technology, but only if you are willing to legally defend it. It is also a legitimate revenue stream through royalities / licensing agreements. Some organisations actually exist solely on their patent portfolio (e.g. Silverbrook Research). Its not cheap to get a patent ($5k+, depending on if you use patent attorneys, although the costs are spread out over 10 years), but you have a limited timespan if you want to apply - 12 months after your product or service is released. However, I suspect there are lots of gotchas in applying for a patent, so its probably worthwhile getting a patent attorney involved at an early stage. You can apply for a provisional patent in the first 12 months, while you test your target market. The burden of documentation is much lower, and then you can determine if its worthwhile to file at the end of the 12 months to keep your patent application alive. A lot of people would argue that its not worthwhile getting a patent as a startup, because its more important to be first to market. However, its an opportunity you only get once, and is valuable with respect to defending your market, getting finance from angels and VCs, etc. By the way, IANAL, so get your own advice. Cheers, Nigel On Sat, Oct 1, 2011 at 9:25 AM, drllau <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On Sep 28, 7:55 pm, Alwin Chin <[email protected]> wrote: > > Though IP is always somewhat in the back of my mind... got any tips for > > those interested? > > > > Only certain forms of IP are worth protecting (trade secrets such as > customer lists, designs against counterfeiters, and trademarks for > reputation). Patents only if the potential global market is worth 100M > + and you need significant sunk investment. > > An idea (software/business process) by itself is not worth much > without the execution and more important traction > > I believe it was Drucker or Buffet who said that a core competency (or > competitive moat) is that even when you tell everyone, they can't > duplicate it. > > Lawrence > http://nz.linkedin.com/in/drllau > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach > Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more > > Forum rules > 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. > 2) No jobs postings. You can use http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/jobs > > > To post to this group, send email to > [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more Forum rules 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. 2) No jobs postings. You can use http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/jobs To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en
