I've always seen patents (in software) as a means for larger companies to squash any kind of competition from small startups. What is the experience by people on here? Do you check for existing patents first or do you just 'go for it' ?
The problem is that the patent system is a) broken and b) <i>very</i> abused.<p>It's at the point where companies will go out and patent everything they possibly can, in order to <i>protect themselves</i>. Then, when company A decides to sue company B for patent infringement, company B simply finds a patent of theirs that company A is infringing, and they counter-sue then call it even.<p>It's utterly ridiculous, but it's common and considered normal these days. For example, the Qualcomm / Broadcom patent lawsuits. Cisco does the same thing.