There are some parts of software where I’m generally aware of patent issues, like media formats and encoders/decoders, etc. But I’m also aware of a few software patents that, if I didn’t already know about them, I would not suspect were patented. For instance, One-click purchases, overscroll and simplex noise. I assume that there’s many more similarly-generic software patents that I’m not aware of. I can easily imagine unknowingly implementing one of these and then finding myself with a cease & desist or worse.

Suppose I want to ensure that some software I am building steers clear of any such landmines, but I also cannot spend all the time searching for patents.

(Past a certain point, the answer is “You need to speak to a lawyer”, but I’m interested in “good practice”. As an analogy, at some point, a large enough team probably wants to hire a dedicated security engineer. But all software engineers should know not to write SELECT * FROM users WHERE name='${user_input}'. What is the “don’t write injectable SQL” of software patents?)

How do I find patents that are likely to be relevant to a particular field or application? How else can I reduce the risk of patent issues? How does this change if I am a solo developer vs a FOSS contributor vs an employee vs a team manager?

Related:

• Who is responsible for doing a patent search?
• How much attention should be paid to patents when developing software?