I have come up with a new product, but I am concerned that there are a lot of similar products on the market. How can be sure I am not infringing someones Patent?
Yours is an interesting question. The short answer is: you cant. There is no 100% reliable foolproof way of avoiding being sued for Patent Infringement. There are steps you can take to minimize exposure to a suit, but no 100% foolproof way of avoiding any suit. That is the nature of any business – risk-taking. If you are not prepared to take managed risks, then you should not be a businessman. The problem is, it may be hard or impossible to find all relevant Patents that might affect your business. Searching Patents is not an exact science. If a Patent is “pending” it is kept secret for 18 months, then it might be published. Some are not published (it is an opt-out system) others filed under the old rules (pre 2001) are not published, period. So it is possible that a patent may be “pending” that you don’t know about. If this product has been on the market for several years, the likelihood of it being “pending” diminishes accordingly. But some Patents take 5, 6 or more years to issue. S
