The Patent Picket Fence
From The Business Journal (Minneapolis/St. Paul):
"For decades, many businesses obtained patents for unique technology, then buried them in a legal department box, to be dusted off only in cases of obvious infringement. But as intellectual property is increasingly viewed as a way to gain a competitive advantage, patent pursuit is taking on a strategic edge.
Through tactics such as staking out patents early and often, as well as expanding patent portfolios to include different types of patents, companies are strengthening their intellectual property holdings...
'Just having one patent isn't enough to stop the competition,...but, when you have many together, they represent a true strategy in terms of a company's direction, and it can be very powerful.'
..."Patents give you a picket fence to shore up your technology, and make sure someone else doesn't enter your area of innovation"
