Again, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but entrepreneurial espionage is not just common practice but a staple in most large corporations.
But please I invite you to present a product line that was invented in the last few years that was able to hold on to an exclusivity, because you know they more than likely filed a number of patents. I’m still waiting
.
You realize how easy it is to get around a patent. Change a small thing here, adjust another thing there and tada, your patent no longer has legal grounds.
Here are some articles to chew on. But don’t just take Forbes’s word for it take mine too. I’m involved in product creation in a medium sized corporation and it would surprise you how much we copy and paste. It surprised me at first. Not only have I done the same at this point with a few minor adjustments but the CEO brags about certain direct “ripoffs” that have net millions of dollars.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/toddhix.../#3a8fe0e53ef3
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephen.../#71101f5956f3
A few takeaways if you don't feel like reading.
-Don’t base your business strategy on patents. And don’t try to raise money primarily on the basis of patents; most likely this will fail and you will appear naïve.
-It will rarely make sense for a small company to sue a big company for patent infringement. The lawyers will probably be the winners.
-Build your business on real competitive advantages: product value-in-use, customer relationships, rapid innovation. Don’t count on patents to defend you from your competitors.
-You may be able to deter others from working around by building a ‘wall’ of intellectual property around your technology. But most patents are written far too narrowly for that to be the case. With a little effort, they are easily worked around.
-In some industries, patents are absolutely critical. But in far more they are not.
It’s a well-known fact that a vast majority of patents are worthless. Around 97% of all patents never recoup the cost of filing them.