Tech Start-Ups Rethink Worth of Patents
As Silicon Valley behemoths such as Apple Inc. engage in what some fear is patent Armageddon by challenging competitors’ technology, smaller tech companies and venture capitalists are changing their long-held view that it isn’t worthwhile for start-ups to file for patents.
Now, more small tech companies in the Bay Area are prioritizing patenting their own inventions as a defense and seeking patent services from law firms and businesses that help defend patent suits.
Mike DeSanctis, a patent attorney in Lakewood, Colo., said he has roughly 90 small tech companies as patent clients, up about 20 percent from last year. The majority of his business comes from the Bay Area, he said.
