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Notes -
Does anyone have any experience with the US intellectual property system? I’m pretty confident I have invented a novel technique for denoising signals which I think may actually have applications in other areas beyond my field but I am trying to decide if it’s actually worth the trouble to try and monetize it instead of just donating it an an open source project I help maintain.
I work for an institution which splits royalties with the inventor (me), but I am very hesitant to get my intellectual property office involved since the second I do they will prevent me from doing option 1 above. I also assume the time and paper work burden for me would be onerous and detract from the parts of my job I actually like.
I also don’t have a good sense of how often inventors even get compensated for this sort of thing (if say a camera manufacturer uses my algorithm how could anyone every prove they stole it from me?). Is my intuition that I most likely won’t ever get paid anything anyway correct?
…What sort of noise? In my line of work, we’re hard limited by the thermal noise floor.
Anyway. My understanding of the patent system is that it’s enforced by lawsuits. Someone sets up a factory making your widget, you hear about it, you sue for infringement. The larger the operation, the more value in bringing a suit. As a result, the legal department of those large companies will seek out your license ahead of time. Especially if your company is on the prowl for violators.
I have zero idea how this works for software. Presumably all the same rules apply, but if a commercial product skimmed your paper and implemented it, how would you ever know? And yet people clearly do patent techniques, and if your technique is as applicable as it sounds, you might really get value from patenting.
So, uh, no idea. Sorry. Hit me up if you decide to share it though :)
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