Published:
by Wayne Smith
A patent grants its owner the exclusive legal right to a novel invention or process that demonstrates an advancement over existing technology. In exchange, the inventor must publicly disclose the details of the invention through the patent office. However, holding a patent does not guarantee that the invention is being actively used or commercially implemented. Even when it is, the owner may not rely solely on the patented method in practice.
The Art of Patent Strategy
Inspired by Sun Tzu’s principles of strategy, an ideal patent not only protects the core intellectual property but also leaves space for further innovation in how it is implemented. Because only the patent holder is legally permitted to use the patented concept, any new enhancements developed during implementation may themselves be patentable.
By crafting a broad patent, companies can safeguard a wide range of implementations, enabling continuous innovation, additional patent filings, and sustained industry leadership.
In the context of SEO, such broad patents often offer insights into underlying algorithms or strategies, but they rarely reveal full implementation details.
Google Patents
PageRank a Zero Sum Game and Other Myths
Many people who lack an understanding of the mathematics behind PageRank mistakenly believe it is a zero-sum game. Some assume that PageRank can only be gained through links from specific "whitelisted" sites or envision link patterns that would create infinite PageRank values.
For PageRank to be a true zero-sum system, the total amount of PageRank would need to be fixed, implying a finite number of web pages—an unrealistic assumption. In reality, PageRank behaves more like fiat currency: new PageRank is effectively created when Google discovers new links, distributing ranking potential across the web.