So say I wanted to sell something...

Oh, one other thing: restaurants make the most profit at the bar. In electronics, the highest profit items are firmware-based options (which cost nothing on a production basis) and accessories like cables, connectors, and wall-warts, which can be sold at 3-5x cost.

John

Then you've miss completely the point of patents.

People and companies can keep their innovations secret, or at least try to. The disadvantage to the world is that others can't build on the prior art. "Now that's neat, but if that can happen then what about....".

Patents mean that details can be revealed, but at the same time the idea is protected. If there's a patent, you know when it was issued, and to who. The patent isn't publicly available so others can copy it, it's publicly available so others can learn from it. It's a deal. "we'll help protect your design, but you have to let others learn from it".

Patent infringement is precisely using the work of others.

Michael

Good point. It took me some convincing to actually double my hourly rate for one particular customer.

Also be carefull to charge for everything and have customers respect your business. You don't want customers to come back because they can get stuff and lunches for free. This is an easy error to make. If the products and service are okay and the price is right, customers will come back.

Selling the parts isn't the issue. Selling someone else's intellectual property is. Distributors sell parts all day long.

Hmm, are you saying that firmware is like alcohol? ;-)

I hired a contractor several years ago who told me that his demand went *up* when he raised his prices. He told us that he didn't really give a crap what we paid (had to go through a contract agency), but he wanted $95/hr (six month contract). Since he was established, it only cost us another $23 an hour to pass papers around.

That is a common phenomenon. There are some curious nonlinearities in the economy, and the price/demand curve apparently has regions of negative resistance, like a tunnel diode...

It turns to vapor easily, it is inflammable/inflammatory, ...

I did the same when I was a "computer consultant". I always had the theory that the more I ask for, the more I am respected.

It didn't surprise me that he was worth more when he demanded more[*] (he was certainly worth every penny), what boggled my mind was that we had to pay $23/hr to an agency that had no work product, other than to launder money. His cost was uplifted 25% to satisfy silly accountants and their tax codes.

Pretty close, but firmware is less reliable.

John

The market for electronic kits was utterly demolished three decades ago when Heathkit went belly up and most community colleges stupidly dropped their electronics programs.

It was all Russia's fault actually when they caused the aerospace dieback.

No, its like the little pink umbrella that goes in the alcohol.

That would mean it is impossible to do research that improves on someone else's patented invention. Or could the research be done in a country where the patent is not valid? Or does the patent office accept patents for things which make claims that are hard to make without actual tests (like for medicines)?

Thomas

But not all use is infringement. If I write an article about how some patented A/D converter works or seems to work - am I infringing the patent?

Thomas

Possibly yes, if your article could be construed as encouraging others to infringe the patent. That is an infringement by itself.

No wonder it oscillates apparently uncontrollably.

patent?

I don't think so.