Is a patent only as “good” as your ability to defend it? Many people, including inventors and lawyers, say this. Meaning, if you don’t have deep enough pockets to sue and eventually win for patent infringement, your patent isn’t worth anything. (To be fair, in my first article for this magazine six years ago, I said something similar.)
Before I sued for patent infringement and had to defend my ownership of my intellectual property in federal court, I more or less agreed. That was the big benefit of patents, right? They allow you to litigate. But when I experienced litigation for myself, I reached a different conclusion.