It’s wrong to think that a patent can automatically stop your competitor from entering a market, or making a competitor product.

Just wrong.

Patents are hurdles, not walls. Each of them protect groups of ways that you can see to meet that commercial need.

They don’t completely stop your competitors at all.

There’s always a way to come up with an alternative. The real question is what will it take to do so and is it worth it for your competitor?

Start thinking about patents in this way and a whole lot of commercial possibilities appear.

[Image credit: Oriol Gascon]