[sdiy] Patents

[Magnus Danielson]

From: "Fredrik Carlqvist" <ifrc at iar.se>
Subject: [sdiy] Patents
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 16:02:37 +0100
Message-ID: <200412101502.QAA29022 at pjakkur.iar.se>

> Hi all!

Hi Fredrik!

> Has anyone here ever patented anything? Was it worth the money/effort? 
> 
> I was thinking the next best thing is to publish (as in on this list), so
> that no-one else can patent an idea you have. That way you don't get sued
> for using your own ideas. 
> 
> What do you think?

Publish! Real magazine, not just the web.

To be honest, patenting is costly, both to initiate and then to maintain. Then,
you need to sell it and supervise that nobody else is using your patent and if
they do, you also needs the money to sue them. Unless you have something which
by itself is directly much money, patenting is probably a poor investment,
even if it is cool.

Make sure that you publish in a paper where you also retain the right to have
an electronic copy on the web.

Cheers,
Magnus