guy kawasaki on patents as defense tools

I am a bit behind the curve to welcome Guy Kawasaki to the blogging world, but you should stop by his new blog and sign up.  His first 30 days of blogging have been insightful and funny and the The Top Ten Lies of Entrepreneurs post doesn’t disappoint.

Of course, being PHOSITA, the point I like the best is #10:

“Patents make our product defensible.” The optimal number of times to use the P word in a presentation is one. Just once, say, “We have filed patents for what we are doing.” Done. The second time you say it, venture capitalists begin to suspect that you are depending too much on patents for defensibility. The third time you say it, you are holding a sign above your head that says, “I am clueless.” Sure, you should patent what you're doing--if for no other reason than to say it once in your presentation. But at the end of the patents are mostly good for impressing your parents. You won't have the time or money to sue anyone with a pocket deep enough to be worth suing.

As they say in Texas, a patent is nothing more than an opportunity to sue and a 50/50 chance to lose money — 40/60 if the judge ate a burrito for breakfast! 

Happy New Year and PHOSITA turned two years old over the weekend.  Thanks for the support!