Ask HN: Do You Read Patents?

1 pointhoerzu2 comments

I was wondering to see where technology is going by reading patents. So I search virtual reality. Seems really messy to me compared to scholar papers.

https://patents.google.com/?q=%22virtual+reality%22&oq=%22virtual+reality%22&sort=new

What do you think? Do you browse patents. If so what could you recommend?

View on HN

I had to read a lot of patents as an R&D engineer. Keep in mind it's written by lawyers so the text will have very dry language.

Google patents is workable. Just learn about the patent classification system so you can really narrow down what you're looking for. and pay attention to the claims and images for a first glance.

I only read my own patents, painfully, to ensure the lawyers didn’t lose anything in the process of translating from engineer speak to patent lawyerese.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com