the assumption in a patent trial isn’t that you stole the idea.
It has nothing to do with theft. The assumption is that you didn’t steal it at all, you came up with it yourself in the normal course of business. The only time the law even cares if you stole the idea is when it comes time to determine how much you’ll pay in damages! So it’s very important to understand that patent law is not about preventing theft. It’s about forcing people to pay for the use of patented ideas even when they came up with the idea themselves.
Why Software Patents are Bad, Period.
from Why Software Patents are Bad, Period.
