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Patent ambush

Revision as of 06:06, 18 November 2010 by Ciaran (talk | contribs) (Reverted edits by 175.145.98.31 (talk) to last revision by Ciaran)

Patent ambush is where a patent holder waits until a technology becomes popular, or until a company becomes rich, before launching an unexpected patent suit. The patents used in a patent ambush are often called "submarine patents" (although this term's original meaning was only for a certain type of ambush).

This problem exists in all patentable domains but it is particularly unjust in the case of software because the use of software is essential to almost every company, and distribution and development of software is very common (keeping in mind that developing a website is software development).

In some countries, the non-use of a patent could give a defence, known as laches, to alleged infringers.

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