Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Jim Allman <jim AT ibang.com>]

Corey also said:
> If you are business owner, large or small, having IP is a good thing.  
> The startup company is an extreme example: in today's market, VCs 
> won't typically invest in a company without some proof of the 
> company's potential for generation of profits.  Without IP, most 
> software companies aren't worth more than the sum of their 
> workstations, desk chairs, and pool tables.  In this case, IP can 
> actually protect the innovation work of a deserving company from being 
> stolen by a BigCo.

Corey,

I've also heard the opposite argument, that it's better for a small 
developer to stay nimble and avoid the patent game (slow, heavy, 
expensive). That a working solution that's early to market is worth a 
lot even without a patent, and worth not much more with a patent. It's 
a tempting approach, but perhaps not realistic..?

It also means that you'd just plan to be ripped off or steamrollered 
once in awhile by BigCos, but I'm not sure patents are a realistic 
defense against this anyway. Many inventors (Wright Bros for example) 
seem to spend most of their careers in court, stifling their own 
inventions and feeding the lawyers. Ugh, life is short enough.

Your best practices--due diligence, clean room techniques, exacting 
documentation--make sense, but they also seem tricky in practice. 
(Unless you have two completely isolated groups of employees, does due 
diligence open you up to the charge of willful infringement?) And the 
added cost in overhead, personnel, and speed seems enormous to me.

Maybe this *is* the future of knowledge work, and the "maturation" of 
software development, but I can't say I like it. It sounds like we'll 
spend most of our time negotiating a spiderweb of contracts, patents, 
certs and licenses--and praying we never, ever miss a step, lest we be 
sued into oblivion. Joy.

(Sorry, it's been a long day. I do appreciate your comments, and I hope 
the thread keeps going.)

  =jimA=

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Jim Allman
Interrobang Digital Media
http://www.ibang.com/
(919) 649-5760