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US patents give you the right to exclude others from making, selling, and using
your invention ONLY in the United States. Other countries have their own patent
laws and requirements and, in most, the process is significantly different than
that of the United States. Efforts to harmonize the patent rules of the world
are moving slowly. However, there are two reasons you would want to consider international
patent protection for your invention: export and warding off international competition.
If the bulk of your business is on the Internet, you also need to consider the
problem of an infringer in another country.
It is clear that if you aim to expand your market by exporting your product,
a crucial aspect of exporting is patent protection for your intellectual property.
Without such protection, your invention may easily be copied and you can do little
about it but watch your invention bring wealth to the competition and your market
share gobbled up by a local company that invested but a fraction of your research
efforts. Worse, your product image may be cast into the same group as far inferior
products, something that may damage your efforts worldwide. Clearly obtaining
patent protection in rich target markets such as Europe, portions of Southeast
Asia, and South America is beneficial.
Warding off international competition is a different issue. It is well known
that several countries are powerhouses in their own right when it comes to high
tech development. Examples in the software industry include Israel, Scandinavia,
Australia and others. A potential competitor in Israel, for example, may create
a high quality application similar to yours. As long as you do not own a patent
in Israel, there is little you can do about it. If that competitor begins selling
in Canada, for example, even selling to US customers and providing toll free telephone
support, there is little you can do to prevent that as well. Your patent rights
in the US allow you to prosecute any user of the software, but you are faced with
dragging each user to court individually! This is hardly a practical solution.
If, on the other hand, you began pursuing patent protection in Israel at the
same time you started pursuing it in the United States, you would be in an excellent
position to stop the infringer cold. Many countries are much easier to get an
injunctive relief than the United States, so you would likely be able to get a
court in Israel to order the infringer to stop making and selling your invention.
You protect your rights not only in Israel and stop the indirect sale via Canada,
but you also protect yourself in the rest of the world. Even if small markets
such as Israel and Australia are not significant target markets, obtaining patent
protection in such countries is often a worthwhile effort.