Sorry, but you shouldn't be waiting for your patent. Build your business. Protect your know-how as best you can, but the patent system is broken, and even when you have that patent you'll still have to protect your intellectual property with legal expenses. Patents don't offer that much protection anymore, not in the real world.
So what to do? Get good legal help, somebody who really knows the area and somebody you can trust, and have them help you build whatever walls are possible--whatever you can do to protect your know-how and all. But in the meantime, build a business.
Tim Berry is the president of
Palo Alto Software Inc., which produces the industry's leading business planning software, Business Plan Pro, as well as other popular planning applications for businesses.
