I have a question regarding patenting in the aviation industry. I'm not sure if this is the best forum section to post the question, but the mods can move it elsewhere if this is not the appropriate place.
After looking through a lot of the patents posted here the question pops up in my mind: why use patents?
I am interested in the topic due to my academic research, but I can't seem to find any theories or logic regarding patenting that would explain their use in the aviation industry, at least not in the fashion seen here. Here are some of my questions: 1) What is the benefit to a designer to reveal details of a design at early concept stages by patenting certain aspects of a design? The benefits seem small, given that the details would not be available to any competitor at that early stage or perhaps even later stage. 2) Given that not a lot of details are (usually) revealed other than general shapes and concepts, what is the point since the patent doesn't grant any real protection? The harm, on the other hand, may be unpredictable since a competitor may be made aware of the general direction of your designs even if no details are provided. 3) Perhaps, this point can be used to one's advantage through misdirection. One might patent failed projects with the purpose of throwing competitors off track?
I'm sure I'm missing a lot of the logic behind the decision to use a mechanism like patents which clearly does not provide any protection for something as complex as an aircraft, while at the same time taking the risk of spilling too many details (or just enough details) for no gain.
What are your thoughts? Is there some strategy behind their use?
After looking through a lot of the patents posted here the question pops up in my mind: why use patents?
I am interested in the topic due to my academic research, but I can't seem to find any theories or logic regarding patenting that would explain their use in the aviation industry, at least not in the fashion seen here. Here are some of my questions: 1) What is the benefit to a designer to reveal details of a design at early concept stages by patenting certain aspects of a design? The benefits seem small, given that the details would not be available to any competitor at that early stage or perhaps even later stage. 2) Given that not a lot of details are (usually) revealed other than general shapes and concepts, what is the point since the patent doesn't grant any real protection? The harm, on the other hand, may be unpredictable since a competitor may be made aware of the general direction of your designs even if no details are provided. 3) Perhaps, this point can be used to one's advantage through misdirection. One might patent failed projects with the purpose of throwing competitors off track?
I'm sure I'm missing a lot of the logic behind the decision to use a mechanism like patents which clearly does not provide any protection for something as complex as an aircraft, while at the same time taking the risk of spilling too many details (or just enough details) for no gain.
What are your thoughts? Is there some strategy behind their use?