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Does obtaining a patent on your software or business method protect you against a claim of patent infringement by a competitor?
Though increasingly available in the US, software and business method patents do not give the patent owner the right to practice his invention, only the right to exclude others from doing so. E.G., a patent on an improved system or method gives no right to practice the improvement if such practice violates the patent on the basic invention. Likewise, the owner of the basic patent cannot practice the improvement without a license, often leading to cross licensing in such situations. Whether an improver or pioneer, owning a patent is no guarantee of impunity from claims by other patentees.
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