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Designing a Patent-Incentive Program?

Posted by timothy on from the to-the-degree-that-patents-are-good dept.

SoulMaster writes "The company I work for (we are a one-year-old start-up) has recently started filing patents to protect some of its intellectual property. At the onset of the patent process, one of the executives drafted a very basic Patent Incentive Program (PIP) which is now under full review to ensure that it is both accurate and fair. The basics of our original PIP are that inventors receive (or co-inventors share): $500 for each provisional filing, $1500 for an actual patent filing (with full claim-sets defined), and $5000 for any patent that is granted by the USPTO. While the current program seems fair to our staff, we have been unable to find anything to compare it to. Moreover, the revamp of the program is likely to grant an equity stake in the company (via an Options grant) rather than cash payouts. I've scoured Google for information, but because internally documented PIPs aren't generally public knowledge, the results are limited. Thus, I have decided to ask Slashdot users: How does the company you work for handle Patent incentives? Do they have them at all? Are they cash or equity based?"

4 of 221 comments (clear)

  1. Even if I could help I wouldn't by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I'm more interested in seeing an end to software patents which is why if I was going come up with something worthy of a patent I would do the work outside of my job so it's mine completely and can't be claimed by my company.

    Luckily my employer isn't a software company so it's easier to do this.

  2. Every time you file a patent god kills a kitten by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Patents aren't good for innovation. Probably not when they were created and certainly not now. They stifle innovation and make it a risk to get anything to market much more than they help things by dangling that massive carrot of exclusive rights to get rich. I'd rather see a patent disincentive program where every time a patent is revoked, people get money. Or perhaps every time a patent is filed the person filing the patent loses a limb and a loved one.

  3. Re:Stanford's patent policy. by mad.frog · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I find it supremely ironic that I get modded as "offtopic" for point out that another comment is... offtopic.

    (Presumably this comment will get modded that way too... oh well)

  4. mo3 0p by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    projeCt returns