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Comment by Lasher | Hacker News Reader

Not to be melodramatic, but as someone still in a day job this whole patent mess seriously does discourage me from taking the leap and risking everything to try to invent something meaningful only to get hit with a patent troll lawsuit just as we start to find our feet.

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That's an excuse if I've ever heard one. You would be so lucky to get sued. "I'd be a famous musician, but I'm worried about the publicity."

Being famous doesn't cost a musician money.

Sure, he would be "lucky" to be in a position of potentially losing his business and/or idea in the course of defending it. There's potentially a huge cost even if he were to win.

Don't worry. The patent trolls only come after you earned a lot of money (who wants to sue a poor company) at which point you should be able to throw enough money at some lobbyist in dc to make the issue go away.

Not quite true. Patent trolls tend to go after companies big enough to pay their demands but too small to be able to fight them in court.

Going after smaller companies give them opportunities to get court precedents set as well.

It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness.

As long as your candle isn't bright enough to attract the attention of trolls hiding in the darkness.

Sorry, I believe being in a day job is patented also.

Despite the massive evidence of prior art, it was found not to be original and the patent was granted.

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