A patent is only valuable if you do something with it

A patent can give you a monopoly. That sounds like hitting the jackpot: twenty years of protection, competitors kept at bay, and exclusive rights to a technology. But a monopoly without a strategy can be surprisingly worthless. The question isn’t just whether you can protect something, but above all what you do with that protection afterward.

Marco Coolen, photo © Bart van Overbeeke

Take FDM 3D printing. Today, we know it as the technique in which a printer builds an object layer by layer from molten plastic. The basis for this was patented in 1989 by Stratasys. Technically, it was very well designed. On paper, the company had exactly what many entrepreneurs want: a strong position around a technology that could transform an entire industry.

Yet real growth didn’t come until much later. When the basic patent expired in 2009, the market exploded. MakerBot emerged, the RepRap project grew rapidly, and universities, startups, and hobbyists began experimenting en masse with FDM printers. What had been protected for years suddenly became the foundation of an entire industry.

But what if Stratasys had opted for a different strategy earlier on? For example, through licensing, partnerships, or an ecosystem in which others could contribute in a controlled manner? After all, a patent doesn’t just give you the right to exclude others. It also gives you the ability to admit others under certain conditions.

Lock or Key?

A patent can act as a lock on the door. But sometimes it’s actually a key. You can shield a technology, but you can also use it to accelerate market growth. When more parties work with your technology, it often creates greater demand for materials, services, knowledge, and follow-up innovations. Sometimes a larger ecosystem is ultimately more valuable than a completely closed market.

That doesn’t mean protection is wrong. On the contrary. Without a patent, Stratasys might never have had the time and space to bring FDM printing to technical maturity. The patent provided protection, focus, and a head start. But it does show that protection in and of itself is not a business model.

The Real Thinking

A patent is therefore not an endpoint. It is a strategic starting point. The real thinking only begins after the application is filed. Will you manufacture the product yourself? Will you sell licenses? Are you looking for partners? Do you want to set a standard? Or will you use the patent primarily to keep competitors at bay?

The value of a patent lies not only in owning it, but also in how you use it. Sometimes that means protecting it vigorously. Other times, it means sharing it, licensing it, or deliberately allowing the market to grow.

A monopoly is nice. But the strategy determines what it actually yields.