Hello all,
Throwaway account for obvious reasons.
I'm a software developer in the US with an idea for a startup that involves a hardware component. I've done a lot of research, and the idea seems tractable technically. I have the capability to build the software side personally, and I have contacts that would make good partners for the hardware side. From informal polls of friends, it seems like something that people would love. I have enough money saved to build some prototypes before seeking funding.
There's just one issue: the hardware component appears to be covered by multiple patents, at least one of which has been granted and is held by a major software corporation.
(Incidentally, the patent was filed in 2000 and issued in 2003, and this corporation shows no signs of doing anything with the idea -- grr).
(Also: I'm clearly biased, but I find the patented ideas fairly trivial, and an abuse of the intent of the patent system -- double grr).
How worried about this should I be?
My ideal goal would be to build a "lifestyle" company with revenues of, say, 20-30M/yr and ~10 employees, and just run it indefinitely. I'm not interested in building a gigantic business; I just want the ability to work on cool projects and work with a handful of great engineers.
I would consider exiting to a bigger company if the opportunity arose, but it would not be my goal.
I think the commonly accepted wisdom for typical web startups is to ignore patents and run as fast as possible. Perhaps part of this is due to the usual goal of selling out to a larger company, who presumably has the resources to defend patent issues. Is the calculus different for hardware companies, non-service-type companies, or companies that don't want to sell?
Edit: Also: I'm also aware of the conflict between "lifestyle business" and "seek funding". For now, I'm just interested in the issue of patent risk. I clearly need to do more thought in the other areas of my idea :).
