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Comment by paul7986 | Hacker News Reader

Unless you have a war chest behind you getting a patent is a huge gamble especially when your invention becomes successful. When it does those with a war chest jump in and use the PTAB to invalid your patent. You can even hear judges on Shark Tank like Damon John say/ponder on the show is a patent worth getting as he notes the PTAB issue.

Further, Google and it's ilk changed the game in their favor when they lined the pockets of congressmen/women to change the law from first to invent(those with money) to first to file(the true inventors with little resources/power).

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If your goal is to exit early through (acquisition by a company with pre-existing complimentary war chest) then it's in your best interest to file for a patent as they can acquire and defend.

This is exactly what I intend to do with my current project. I've got a novel audio video app and want to get IP protection to help sell it.

Where can I go about finding a lawyer that knows what they're doing? How much will their services typically run?

> Further, Google and it's ilk changed the game in their favor when they lined the pockets of congressmen/women to change the law from first to invent(those with money) to first to file(the true inventors with little resources/power).

But it seems like the vast majority of the world uses first-to-file.

Correct, but first-to-file is not as friendly to entrepreneurs. In first-to-invent prior art was at least a line of defense for a company defending themselves against a spurious patent troll. (One that STILL would cost money to defend in court most of the time.)

With the change in the system, my understanding is now it is 6 months after publication to challenge a patent with prior art. And thanks to the way they are worded... good luck actually finding one when it happens.

No, I've not at all done this but it would be interesting to see the percentage of patents in the US filed by individuals versus companies over the last 20-30 years.

You seem to have misunderstood. It's first to file, but prior disclosure invalidates the patent (except a few edge cases to allow for trade shows, I gather).

Prior disclosure is any documented teaching of the embodied idea the patent seeks to protect. In the UK a classic example was a dog doorbell having a comic cited against it.

When did it change to first to file?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leahy%E2%80%93Smith_America_In...

March 2013

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