I have several patents I created and assigned to my company. The main reason is to allow the company to work in those ways without restriction. For example, without a patent granting rights to do operation XYZ, then a competitor may say that the company is doing something forbidden and needs to stop. We can look at all the claims for stolen IP with the various self-driving car companies to see examples.
This is a forward looking protection mechanism due to the environment that we actually have in the real world today. Even so, I don't like the idea of a social media company that sells advertising to have so many patents of the kinds mentioned in the article.
> For example, without a patent granting rights to do operation XYZ, then a competitor may say that the company is doing something forbidden and needs to stop.
Just FYI, a patent doesn't "grant rights to do operation XYZ". Patents only allow you to forbid others from doing XYZ. That means that you can have a patent that covers XYZ, but if someone else has a patent to do X (or XY), then they can stop you from doing XYZ.
Patents are strictly an offensive measure: They only allow you to sue/stop someone else from using them. They do NOT give you approval to do something.
Some people mention "defensive" patents; They are only defensive in the sense that "the best defence is an offence" - that if someone attacks you, you have something to attack them back with. But that's not actually useful against entities that aren't practicing, such as Intellectual Ventures.
In the US a patent grant confers the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States.
In that way, while there isn't legal approval, there are real world patent rights that create a bar which stops many from interfering with your business processes. In this way, there is a non-offensive and defensive ability to conduct business.
I am the inventor on a number of patents, and this is exactly how patents work out in practice for the specific type of industry and purpose that this thread is about. I am not talking about the law of patents but how patents are used in the actual real world by large companies. That was in reply to what the GP wrote, "It's crazy how the large companies file so many patents for any idea their employees can think of."
In fact, it's not "crazy" that companies do this. What is crazy is the system in which they are forced to do this. Unfortunately lawsuits take a lot of money and time, which I am sure you are familiar with.
A patent can be invalidated by identifying prior art. If you're being sued by a patent holder, a prior patent that you own that covers the technique would be a very good demonstration of prior art. I think that would be classified as a defensive use of a patent.
> I think that would be classified as a defensive use of a patent.
That makes no sense at all:
Cost of publishing in a newspaper, or arxiv, or any other verifyable source: $0.
Cost of getting a patent: $5K-$100K spent on patent editors, patent lawyers, maintenance fees, re-editing after feedback, etc.
It's been a long, long, time since I heard about anyone spending less than $20K for a granted patent. Paying $20K for something that you can get (essentially) for free, prior art defense, makes no sense at all.
Patents are an offensive legal measure; the only way the work for defence is in the "offence is the best defence" sense.
This is a forward looking protection mechanism due to the environment that we actually have in the real world today. Even so, I don't like the idea of a social media company that sells advertising to have so many patents of the kinds mentioned in the article.