> If I'm Ford, I surely would have triple checked every IP angle before putting a new technology in every single vehicle I make.
Perhaps they should have known in this particular case. Maybe they did and moved forward anyway.
But in the more general case it turns out that this is pretty much impossible to do, in practice.
How could you possibly be sure that you didn't infringe on any patents when there are hundreds of thousands granted every year in the US alone, and they are deliberately written in the most vague and obscure language possible?
What companies do instead is build a library of their own patents, which they can use against any other entity that sues them for patent infringement. The Apple vs. Samsung patent wars are a good example of this. This strategy generally works if the other party actually makes some sort of thing and is not a patent troll.
This is one of the many reasons that the patent system isn't really a net positive for society. Instead, it can be considered a tax on anyone who participates in it, and society as a whole.
Except for patent attorneys, they make tons and tons of money off it. Everyone else loses.
Perhaps they should have known in this particular case. Maybe they did and moved forward anyway.
But in the more general case it turns out that this is pretty much impossible to do, in practice.
How could you possibly be sure that you didn't infringe on any patents when there are hundreds of thousands granted every year in the US alone, and they are deliberately written in the most vague and obscure language possible?
What companies do instead is build a library of their own patents, which they can use against any other entity that sues them for patent infringement. The Apple vs. Samsung patent wars are a good example of this. This strategy generally works if the other party actually makes some sort of thing and is not a patent troll.
This is one of the many reasons that the patent system isn't really a net positive for society. Instead, it can be considered a tax on anyone who participates in it, and society as a whole.
Except for patent attorneys, they make tons and tons of money off it. Everyone else loses.