April 2011
So, naturalists observe, a flea Has smaller fleas that on him prey; And these have smaller still to bite 'em, And so proceed ad infinitum. - On Poetry: a Rhapsody Jonathan Swift Innovation in a free market is risky. For example, a utility patent can help to minimize the risk of competition, but is itself a risk. Investment (from $10,000 to $30,000) in a patent application is wasted if the patent office denies grant of a patent. And a patent doesn’t even guarantee that we can use, sell, or profit from embodiments of our own inventions, though we can often do so without a patent. Patent attorney Ronald Aust helped us understand the risk of a utility patent and how to minimize it. In some ways, a patent is like a land deed. A deed specifies where someone’s land is; claims of a patent specify where (in the world of useful ideas) someone’s invention is. Owners of either land or invention can tell others to keep off their property, can sell or rent