[pacaro]

The usual advice w.r.t. patents is to not read them.

This may seem odd, but it can be the difference between knowing and unknowing infringement. Knowing infringement results in triple damages.

IANAL — just repeating consistent advice I have received

[amdavidson]

Unless you are planning to infringe (which is knowing in itself), this is very bizarre advice.

Reading a patent is more likely to make you not infringe upon it than to make you knowingly infringe upon it.

[justrobert]

Reading a patent will make you not infringe in the short term, but will you remember you got the idea from that patent in ten years?

For people who are writing novel software it can be better to always avoid reading patents, that way they can honestly state they haven't read a specific patent.

[mark-r]

Accidental infringement is possible whether you've read the patent or not. I was once told not to even mention the possibility of the existence of a patent as that would be evidence used to go for triple damages.

Perverse incentives indeed.