Be Ready to Disclose

This New York Times piece about Rambus, Inc. not being able to enforce certain patents because they shredded documents related to the patents should serve as a warning to other companies that have valuable technology protected by patents. Do not destroy the documents associated with the conception of the invention or the prosecution of the patent. The court will not give you the benefit of the doubt, in fact, just the opposite. This goes along with the idea that one of the reasons the Government grants patents is that they expect the inventor to disclose to the public all the relevant, pertinent information about the invention. The lesson is: do not try to retain or hide (or destroy) any information concerning your patented invention or the patent prosecution process.