Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I am interested in starting a small business.  From what I`m learning now, I am convinced that obtaining a patent is totally counter-productive.  I had always heard about the importance of a patent to "protect" your innovations. The more I study it, though, the more I find this to be nonsense. Here is why I feel that patents are of no use at the small business level:

1. If competitors know I have a patent, they can just redesign my idea, making my patent useless. In this case, how does the patent protect me from losing customers?
2. If competitors completely copy my idea, the only way they can take away my customers is if they sell at a lower price.  At the small business level, I don`t compete on price. Instead, I compete on design.  By the time they steal my idea, I should already be moving on to newer designs.  That`s how I stay competitive. Furthermore, competitors taking my ideas will only expand the market that I serve, thereby expanding my exposure to consumers. Again, the patent serves no purpose here.
3. Patents and legal fees involved in prosecuting patent violators costs money.  How much does this effect my bottom line? At the small business level, is it really cost efficient to go to court? 

 

So, my question to those who think it important to get patents for their products: Why?

 "I don`t compete on price. Instead, I compete on design.  By the time they steal my idea, I should already be moving on to newer designs."

 

SNco you are spot on.  Never, ever compete on price.  You`ll lose every time.

 

Doug

 

necessary for what?  Patents provide a remedy mechanism when you find somebody copying your invention.  Copying can be making the EXACT same thing or making something that is "CLOSE ENOUGH." 

 

By shielding your product with a patent, you are basically controlling the price of that product to the consumer - to a limited degree.  Patented products still have to compete with other products.

 

Thank you everyone for your replies.  As you have all inferred, it depends on what your objective is. 

 

If you are an inventor and want to license your idea to a large company so they can manufacture and sell it, then I suppose a patent could provide some sense of security - how much real security?  I don`t know -  You`re in business to pass along your idea to another company to execute.  For what I`m interested in doing - developing products and selling to retailers- pursuing patents is not worth my time and money. I am not a designer by trade.  My intention is to work with designers to design my ideas. If in the future I see that someone else is manufacturing and selling a product that I brought to the market, my time and money is better spent working on new ideas rather than going to court.

 

I see countless posts on SuN by people asking about patents. Are all these posts coming from inventors who are only interested in licensing their ideas for others to sell, or are they interested in bringing products to the market themselves (in particular, to retailers)? For the latter, the evidence leans towards not pursuing patents.

 

Innovater7 - "Small business and patents often don`t go together.  if you had good patents, go for big business.  Why waste time with small stuff anyway? "

How about this option: Start small with your good idea and grow your own business on the success of continued innovation based on customer feedback?

 

P&T - " It is also true that a small business more often than not has no money to risk being sued for infringement."

Could you please elaborate on this?

 

I look forward to your replies.  Thanks everyone!

 

Dear Terry,
 
Thanks for the reply. You wrote, "Seeing someone may have copied you work or just came up with the same solution is a compliment. With a patent you may have leverage to get a license deal from this manufacturer without even going to court."
 
Could you please explain this?  When you say `manufacturer`, are you referring to a supplier that produced the item?  Or, my competitor who brings the item to the market? My understanding is that these are two separate entities.  The supplier is only in business to manufacture goods.  My competitors are the ones who bring the goods to the retailers or straight to the consumers.

 

As you mentioned in your previous post: "In this age of outsourcing, computer models, and CNC machines. Manufacturing unique products in low volume is easier than it has ever been."

 

This is very true, and my intention is to outsource(China) the production of goods based on specs that my designer has created. So, who am I trying to get a licensing deal with if I have a patent for something that was `stolen`?  The supplier or my competitor?  Are you suggesting arranging a licensing deal as an alternative to suing them?

 

If you are referring to the supplier, I can`t imagine taking company in China to court.  That seems absurd.

 

If you are referring to my competitor, then this goes back to my initial post where I theorized that people stealing your ideas is not really bad for business. By the time my idea is stolen I will have moved on. No need for a patent here!

 

James, you wrote: "Losing a patent infringement lawsuit will likely bankrupt most small businesses."

 

I don`t intend to infringe on anyone else`s patent so I guess I don`t have worry about that one!

 

Thanks, again, everyone for responding to my queries.  I look forward to any further comments you may have.