Why sharing is caring…sometimes
Sharing is caring when you can benefit your customers, your community and your startup — the same way they all benefit from you and your innovations.
Sharing is NOT caring when a competitor steals your ideas and your customers, disrupts your community and threatens your startup.
Patents give you the power to decide when your startup wants to share and when it needs to protect itself.
Patents are the 800 pound elephant in the room which protects you and your startup.
For example, if you file for a patent, you can still give a free license — the right to use your idea — to nonprofits, small companies, universities — whomever you want.
By getting a patent, you can block big companies from bullying your startup.
The Power to Block
How can patents give you such power? Patents give you this right because they protect your invention — your unique idea — in a special way. Patents give you the right to block others from exploiting your idea. For example, you can block others from
- making
- using
- importing
- exporting
your idea — and more!
The Power to Choose
By giving you the power to block, patents give you the power to choose. You can say no to bullying BigCos and yes to companies, organizations and people that are part of your community.
You can even decide how much of your idea you want to share. For example, maybe part of your idea is very important to your startup’s secret sauce and you don’t want to share it — while another part is useful to many others and you don’t mind sharing it.
Patents also give you this power to choose — not only with whom to share your idea, but how much or which part of your idea you want to share.
Making Money From Sharing Your Ideas
Once you have a patent, if you decide to share your idea, you can demand money from the company that wants to use your idea through a special type of agreement called a license.
Ideas that are protected by patents can be shared with a patent license, which is an agreement that states that you, the patent owner, permit the recipient of the license to make, use etc your idea — or only a part of your idea — under whatever conditions you feel are appropriate. For example, the recipient may have to pay money to you — royalties — for the use of your idea. Or the recipient may only be able to use your idea under certain conditions — or both.
Licenses are an important part of many joint venture (JV) agreements, in which your company works with another company on a shared project. By applying for a patent before starting a JV, you can be very clear on which part of the idea belonged to your startup first — and which ideas your startup is bringing to the JV. A license will then clarify which part of your idea the JV can use and how it can use your idea.
Patent Sharing in a Community
There are a number of communities which share a group of patents together under defined conditions. The smartphone on which you may be reading this post is covered by many patents, at least some of which are licensed under international standards as “standard essential patents”. Unfortunately this hasn’t completely stopped smartphone patent wars, because the definition of what is “standard essential” and how much money should be paid in licensing fees to the patent owner are both unclear. But it at least provides a basis for sharing ideas and patents between companies.
Other patent sharing communities can be joined by anyone who is willing to share their patents with the other members of the community.
Some communities, such as Unified Patents, actively buy patents to share with community members. Other communities can be joined by agreeing to a community wide patent license.
One example of a community wide license is the Defensive Patent License (DPL), which says that no community member will sue another community member over its patents. The EFF has a great guide to different types of patent licensing and sharing.
You Have to Start by Filing for a Patent
If you don’t file for a patent, then you don’t get any of the patent benefits. You can’t:
- decide how to share your ideas
- join a patent sharing community
- control who gets to use your ideas
- make money from sharing your ideas
And on, and on.
Patents ultimately benefit you — the innovator — as well your community and your customers. There are many online resources to help you find out more about what a patent is, patent requirements, and also about the patent process. It’s easy to get your patent started!
Remember, patents mean that YOU can decide how the outside world uses your ideas.
