You have to work hard to put out a high-quality product on a consistent basis, but luckily, your competitors do too. You pour a great deal of time and money into coming up with product ideas, developing them, marketing them and making sales, but because everyone else in your industry is in the same situation, the playing field is level. No one gets an unfair advantage.
If another business tries to steal your product idea and sell it without your consent, they could have a head start on everyone else.
This is exactly why patent infringement is such a serious offence. If another business tries to steal your product idea and sell it without your consent, then you're up against a competitor that's got a head start on everyone else. They don't have to worry about the product development stage; they can just produce and go. A good intellectual property lawyer is someone who can fight back against this unfair advantage.
When competition gets unfair…
If a rival business is trying to skip over the product development stage and take your idea, you have protection under patent law in Australia. For example, according to World Intellectual Property Review, Motorola Solutions is currently suing a competitor that it claims infringed on three of its patents for digital mobile radios.
"This filing in the Federal Court of Australia is a continuation of our global efforts to safeguard Motorola Solutions' proven record of technological innovation and our extensive portfolio of more than 4,000 patents," general counsel Mark Hacker said.
Motorola's argument is that the offending company, Hytera, infringed on its patents and was therefore able to "compete unfairly by bypassing investment in innovation."
Resolving conflicts can be difficult
You might have reason to believe a business rival is stepping outside their rights under intellectual property law in Australia, but that's not an easy thing to prove, and the other party might dispute it.
Thomson Reuters Practical Law explained that often, sending a cease and desist letter is a good first step towards resolving a conflict over patent protection, but that's not always guaranteed to work. If the other party refuses to stop selling the product, you might have a messier situation on your hands.
For any situation where you're struggling to resolve an IP dispute, it's helpful to have a patent attorney in Sydney who can take up your case and get to the bottom of it. At Alder IP, we offer a full range of services relating to patents, trade marks, designs and more.