The HN community seems to be anti-patent (especially software patents) in general, however knowledge is power. Would you be interested in a free course on patents (and intellectual property in general) tailored specifically for startups, and taught by experienced patent attorneys?<p>Examples of topics that may be covered in such a course include: evaluating the importance of patents to your startup; how to prepare and file a patent application; the advantages of provisional patent applications; how to respond to an accusation of patent infringement; when to talk to an attorney; evaluating the patent landscape in your field; enforcement and licensing of patents and other IP; the basics of copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets; etc.<p>What other topics would you be interested in covering in such a course?
You should cover, or at least note, jurisdictional differences and interactions, promotion of patents to national/regional/international phases and such. For example "How will having a US patent help me against a European developer?", "Someone has copied my whole site and is serving it from Papua New Guinea, can I sue them in the US?"<p>As an aside could I make a request that those posting on legal matters or on subjects that are highly regionally variant note which region they're posting from.
I'd also be very interested in such a course. Law in general is way down there on the list of things that interest me, but I'd rather be readily equipped with such knowledge than blissfully ignorant.<p>Although not specifically related to patent law, I'd really like to know more about choosing the right lawyer/firm for one's startup.<p>There's so little I know that I feel I should know. I think you'll find a lot of HNers that would be interested in such a course.