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View Full Version : What does this patent issue mean?



elohel
02-21-2012, 05:48 AM
Several years ago, a sibling of mine approached me with a very unique website proposal. We both thought the idea was really excellent, had the ability to generate huge amounts of revenue, and would be a huge hit if done right.

We danced around the idea for years, until about 3 years ago where we got semi-serious and started writing layouts for the site, coming up with really cool ideas and features for it, etc. Unfortunately, we kind of languished at this point. We would constantly talk about the site, come up with even more ideas, etc, but we never actually pulled the trigger to do something.

A few days ago, we decided to get serious and really work on this thing. My brother has the technical capabilities (along with his friend/coworker that was brought in with us) to actually build this site. Together, I think the three of us can implement the ideas and whatnot and actually be quite successful. To really kickstart ourselves, we decided to file for an LLC, as well as a patent on one of our ideas. We figured spending the ~$3,000 to do this would actually motivate us to start moving. After a few years of back and forth, I picked out a name that we all agreed upon, and purchased the domain for it. We were actually getting the ball moving.

We looked through patents for a bit to make sure we were in the clear, and things looked good. There were a few patents out there stepping on our toes, but nothing too bad we couldn't work around. Until tonight. Going through patents with a fine-toothed comb, we found a patent that is absolutely devastating. It was submitted in 2005 (right around the time I was approached with this idea), and then filed for a patent about two years later in 2007. I believe it's still pending as of right now.

I believe the patent was written somewhat amateurishly, and can possibly be worked around, but the problem is that the patent essentially covers 70% of what we had planned on doing with our site. It's almost uncanny how similar it is to our idea. The patent specifically states how it would raise revenue (same idea as ours), as well as how the site would operate (again, exactly as ours was).

My question is, does this devastate our idea, and is it even worth pursuing at this point? I truly believe it's a multi-billion dollar idea if done correctly, and I'd hate to give up on it now. I'm just wondering why someone went through the trouble of patenting this almost 7 years ago, and has since done nothing to actually put it to market. Any advice?

Thanks

lucas.bowser
02-21-2012, 08:26 AM
It's hard to say without putting the patents side by side as to whether or not you would be deemed infringing.

As far as does it devastate your idea, the answer is no. The first thing you need to do is determine whether or not the patents are substantially the same. This area of law is constantly evolving, so I would recommend contacting a patent attorney and see whether or not your patent would be considered infringing on the other. If not, you are probably fine. If you don't want to do hire an attorney for this or your attorney decides that your patent indeed infringes on the other, the next thing to do is find out who owns the patent in question and contact them about licensing or purchasing the rights to the patent. Patents don't have to be the death of your company idea, but now that you know about the problem, you need to protect yourself.

nealrm
02-21-2012, 10:21 AM
I think you need to talk with a patent attorney to see if your idea can even be patented and if it differs from the patent already in place.

Business Attorney
02-21-2012, 07:02 PM
I agree with the two prior posts. The only way to really evaluate the impact of the existing patent is to have a patent attorney review the patent and your ideas. You have to look at each claim made by the patent and compare it to your idea. That requires knowledge of the patent process that no lay person nor any regular business attorney like me has.