"A startup crushes its copycats"

Just getting a patent does not mean your intellectual property is protected; it does means that it is easier to defend your intellectual property. The key word here is easier. Like everything in business there is a cost. If you are defending your IP, you may be called onto the mat and have to go to court to defend yourself and to do that you will have to pay. Built NY pays up to $250,000 to defend its patents in court. Can your small business afford that? If you do not defend your patent there is a possibility that you can lose the protection it's enforcement does afford. So you have to be prepared to defend it and understand that there are costs involved. There are other ways for a small business to protect its intellectual property, like trade secrets. Ask Google about patents and trade secrets. Google made the mistake of patenting its original search algorithm and what happened? Because they are a technology company it was very easy to do the same thing that Google was doing in many different ways. The problem was that no one could figure out how Google was doing it. As soon as Google requested the patent the patent became available publicly (otherwise how would I know I was violating a patent). As soon as it became public other companies realized their missing components and adjusted their products to compete, by using different technologies to do so. Google created it's own competition. Since his incident occurred Google no longer patents it's search algorithms. It maintains the search algorithms as a trade secret. While Google still has search competitors they are no longer handing those competitors the information that they need to compete and Google has been much better off for it. So what should you do, patent or keep trade secrets? It really depends on your product. Is it easy to duplicate in many different ways or is there only one way to make it (like Built NY's bags)? If it is easy to duplicate in many different ways (once it is known) then keep the product a trade secret. If there is really only one way to make the product then patent it. Either way, be prepared to spend money to either defend the patent or keep the trade secret secure - Doug Kersten "A startup crushes its copycats" "Innovative designs make us successful, but defending our intellectual property keeps us in business." By Carter Weiss, FSB Magazine "If you have an idea, very rarely will someone steal it until you make money. Once you make money, everyone will think about stealing it. For three years my company, Built NY, has been making a neoprene wine tote, our signature product, in what has become a $16-million-a-year line of totes, cases and accessories. Without the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, cheap imitations would flood the market and put us out of business, so we spend roughly 4 percent of our annual budget obtaining and defending our patents. It's our third-largest expense, after cost of goods and payroll. We have filed more than 100 design patents, utility patents, and trademark registrations in 20 countries, and we hold two registered trademarks on our two-bottle tote."