Albany Herald: Restore the American Dream for Georgia’s inventors and their businesses by Doug Collins
Imagine you’re an inventor. After investing your life savings, and spending countless late nights refining your product, you’ve managed to turn your good idea into a thriving small business.
But then, a bigger company comes along, copies your design, and starts selling its own version of your product at a lower price. Your sales collapse. Venture capital firms that were previously interested in helping you scale your company now refuse to answer your calls. It looks like you may soon have no choice but to lay off employees who’ve become like family.
In desperation, you turn to the courts — and your lawyers are able to convince a court that the larger corporation has indeed infringed your patent. Finally, justice is served, right?
Unfortunately, probably not. Because of disastrous court precedent, there’s a good chance the judge will allow the corporation to continue pirating your patented design, so long as it pays you some monetary damages. Now, your dream of turning your product into a household name will likely be impossible.