Oh mighty and wise wizards of hackernews, I have a question I cannot answer. I seek a wizard of intellectual property strategy, for I have a question. (IP strategy is concerned w/ what actually happens, as opposed to the law, which is simply the law.)<p>I have a startup idea - I want to make an ad network for eBooks, and sign up publishers. I also want to make software to enable publishers to package special editions of their eBooks more easily, get metrics, etc. For the whole concept think Feedburner for eBooks.<p>Now, there are many eBook applications out there, and things have not consolidated yet, there are several large obvious companies with major interests in this space.<p>It seems that Amazon actually has a patent on advertising in eBooks or ereaders. You can see it here: http://gizmodo.com/5309001/amazon-patent-details-ad+supported-kindle-books<p>Does this make the startup not worth pursuing?<p>(It may be a bad idea for other reasons too. I guess we can workshop it a little bit on HN.)
If you don't get sued, who cares? :)<p>That aside, I would go for it. As gizmodo article said, the patent covers what is essentially web-style advertising in a book. Nothing about it is mind-boggling, earth-shaking, or otherwise patentable [i.e., no reason to sue]. Even if there was reason, you could implement it in a method that is entirely outside the umbrella of the patent.<p>As for the idea itself, it's definitely not whiz-bang. However, it's workable. It's low-overhead. It's tenable for content producers and content consumers (read: an eBook turned offline webpage).<p>Bottom-line: if you have a passion for it, <i>just do it</i>.
If you do it, you're on your own.<p>VC's don't invest in ideas that are not defensible (protected by patents). I'm sure there's an exception but you'd have to have a great working product to convince someone to give you cash in the wake of IP violations.
Patent application != having a patent. Regardless of what's in the application, you shouldn't let it stop you from fleshing out the idea. It's a good market, and a good idea.