I have been working on a novel tech solution for 6 months. Just found a competitor company which has a patent pending. How should I react?
With my colleague, we have been developing a technological solution for a while now. We are currently making our first prototype. For a while have been skimming for competition, but only now found something direct competitor. They are filing for patents. Should I still continue with my startup?
Many companies make their money by designing around the patents of others. It takes a lot of legal analysis and some out of the box thinking but history shows it can be done. The market has been made harder by you not being the first to patent, but it is not necessarily impossible.
Another option is to oppose an accepted (but not yet granted) patent application or to request a re-examination of any accepted or granted patent to get it reduced in scope or revoked.
Also remember that a patent is not enforceable until it is granted/issued.
