When To Take On Facebook, American Idol Or Virgin Mobile In An IP Fight

In my recent post on how stealth mode is a bad idea , I advised entrepreneurs to come out of their shells. To build marketable products, you need feedback from customers, potential investors/partners and business advisers. And the veil of secrecy which comes with being in stealth mode blocks this feedback. But there is a flip-side that I want to make entrepreneurs more aware of: It is a tough world out there and some big and small competitors will deliberately or accidentally steal your ideas. A few of these players are predators much like the beasts of Pandora . So there needs to be a balance. You need to air your ideas, but use every available mechanism to protect yourself. When you do come under attack, run as fast as you can or fight like hell. I’m going to explain all this through three examples. But first, I’ll cover the basics about patents.