Too much $ in a patent as squiggly says.
dogs are fuckin retarded. LOL. thats a great shot.
Important stuff to know as a chemist, especially one who might seek in the future to be an entrepreneur :)
You only patent something which is totally novel and extremely easy to defend, or failing that when you have millions of dollars to spend and think you can win.
If you patent something early without having met one or both of those criteria (both might be needed in some cases, even if its totally novel--especially electronics)--you will find your patent being walked on quick fast and in a hurry.
People often forget that someone can throw the first salvo in court and claim your patent is invalid--it doesn't always have to start with you protecting your patent. If a big company comes in with lawyers they can take your patent and basically say, "Thanks for the product blueprint."
Even big companies do this to each other--Samsung and Apple are great examples. There is no reason to believe they won't do it to you.
If you have something proprietary which is worth patenting, its almost better to just keep it a secret these days unless you have investors/a network behind you with the proper connections (law isn't enough). Even with the fear of reverse-engineering, it's best just to use the time they take to reverse engineer to really spread your brand and get ahead of them that way.
If you achieve market penetration and get enough of the market share, there is nothing they can do to hurt you really. See: Microsoft--they can't even hurt themselves anymore. That's why branding and market share is the end all be all.
Especially in a business like this.
