One of my favorite comedies is National Lampoons Vacation, but I only just found out that the movie is based on a short story that was published in National Lampoon Magazine called "Vacation '58". Needless to say upon learning this I immediately went to Google, found the short story and read it. You can read it here.
As a fan of the movie it's pretty cool to see which stuff they kept in, which stuff they altered, and which material was completely new to me. It also helps that the story's pretty damned funny.
Small companies will get patents when they are warranted, and even when they maybe aren't.
But small companies don't always go for one, even if they could be granted one. The problem is claiming a patent costs a not insignificant amount of money, maintaining it costs money, and enforcing and defending the patent with lawyers and court cases or settlements/agreements is almost never, ever in the economic favor of a small company.
And someone overseas will still copy your idea and give zero fucks that day about it, no matter how many C&D's you send. And retailers or distributors will use and sell their product or service right alongside yours and share in the giving of zero fucks about your patent.
So ultimately, pragmatically, a patent is only as good as the budget to defend it, and in most cases, at least in the world I work of physical good development and sales... unless it's something with long legs, wide scope, and relatively high marketability, a patent usually not worth the effort to enforce, which means the only major benefits of getting a patent are for their asset value to a business, their advertising pedigree, and to satisfy investors, lawyers, etc. who insist on one where-ever possible.
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As a fan of the movie it's pretty cool to see which stuff they kept in, which stuff they altered, and which material was completely new to me. It also helps that the story's pretty damned funny.
But small companies don't always go for one, even if they could be granted one. The problem is claiming a patent costs a not insignificant amount of money, maintaining it costs money, and enforcing and defending the patent with lawyers and court cases or settlements/agreements is almost never, ever in the economic favor of a small company.
And someone overseas will still copy your idea and give zero fucks that day about it, no matter how many C&D's you send. And retailers or distributors will use and sell their product or service right alongside yours and share in the giving of zero fucks about your patent.
So ultimately, pragmatically, a patent is only as good as the budget to defend it, and in most cases, at least in the world I work of physical good development and sales... unless it's something with long legs, wide scope, and relatively high marketability, a patent usually not worth the effort to enforce, which means the only major benefits of getting a patent are for their asset value to a business, their advertising pedigree, and to satisfy investors, lawyers, etc. who insist on one where-ever possible.
Turn on subtitles, they have a proper english translation