Posts in Business

How many patent applications has your company filed today? If you are a typical new economy small tech company with software and internet centric technology or products, the number of patent applications your company filed today is probably zero. Of course filing and prosecuting patent applications is not cheap and that’s part of the explanation. However it is worth noting that most of the successful companies with software-heavy products, including those in the list above, have been filing patent applications from their very early days.

I have had a fair number of clients, staff members and managers, and have been fortunate to glean various nuggets of wisdom from my interactions with all of them. I now share those learnings – distilled into ten business-oriented rules – that in my humble opinion amount to excelling as an IP legal practitioner. While some of the following rules may sound a bit cliché, my explanations below are an attempt to craft them as powerful reminders that an IP lawyer is nothing without the clients/managers who are willing to pay their fee/salary. Thus, no matter whether your law firm billing rate is $200 or $1,200 per hour, or your in-house salary is $50,000 or $350,000 per year, these ten rules apply!

A practicing entity may want to obtain one or more patents is for potential counter assertion against a competitor that is about to or has already sued the entity. In such a case, the scope of the search and the required due diligence may be very particularized to the competitor’s business, and are likely to require a higher level of analysis which is more particularized to a specific group of products or services. Similarly, an organization may desire to acquire, early-on, patents and applications that may be asserted down the road to avoid future litigation. This type of program seeks to acquire for a smaller value today, what may be asserted against the entity for a larger demand in the future. The diligence in such a circumstance should be focused on the risk of sale to an entity that is likely to assert the patent in the future.

Near the end of her presentation Bartow asked a particularly enlightening question. If China can crackdown so thoroughly on its citizens why couldn’t they crackdown on intellectual property infringement and IP crimes? She explained: “Because it isn’t in their interest.” Bartow explained that in the Chinese view it doesn’t make sense to change their view of intellectual property rights because so many within the country are becoming wealthy as a direct result of widespread intellectual property infringement. Bartow ended by saying that as long as this is the view of intellectual property it will be difficult to attract the companies that they really want to attract.

On Friday, October 3, 2014, the University of Toledo College of Law will host a one-day seminar titled “Doing Business in China.” One of the goals of Doing Business in China is to refute myths regarding intellectual property protection in China and to provide an attorney or business person sufficient information to begin the risk assessment with respect to whether China represents a good strategic investment for a small-to-mid-size business. A highlight of the program will be a presentation on cross-cultural communication and negotiation for businesses and attorneys who will work with the Chinese counter parts with a discussing on how to avoid miscues and miscommunication.

Anyone can say: “I know what I’m doing,” and that is the problem. The lesson is simple: It is far better for a prospective client or customer to come to the understanding that you know what you are talking about for themselves than it is for you to tell them you know what you are talking about directly. When people come to the conclusion themselves that you know what you are talking about, that they have learned from your writing, they become loyal clients and customers who are eager to work with you. They also now become firmly convinced that you are the authority on the subject because you have written on the topic so often and so eloquently, so you begin to establish yourself as an expert; a real authority.

Prosperity in the United States is now almost completely tied to innovation, and a prerequisite to successful innovation is access to capital. The central theme of Bruce Berman’s new book of timely essays, The Intangible Investor, focuses on the issues surrounding our innovation economy: capital, valuation and leveraging IP for business advantage. While are there are many sophisticated investors and business executives, the domain of intellectual property and intangible assets is very different from the bricks and mortar world that they inhabit. Unlike real estate, intangible assets are not scarce, can be infinitely replicated and wholly divided. That makes monetizing those patents that have value a formidable challenge.

Making a startup into a successful small business venture requires more than an entrepreneurial heart and willpower. It takes a loyal base comprised of engaged, connected customers and clients to help a business go from start up to sustainable.

Whether your annual patent budget is in the tens of thousands of dollars or the tens of millions of dollars, the pressure to do more with less is becoming increasingly essential, even for critical budget items like the development and protection of patents. In addition to the competitive edge that a strong patent portfolio provides, there are many financial benefits to creating efficiencies in a patent budget. Additionally, being able to apply for patents in multiple jurisdictions will help build your patent portfolio, which is attractive to investors. Finally, well-written and well-translated patent applications can help prevent costs associated with office actions, longer time to grant and litigation.

The question should not be whether you can get a patent, but rather whether any patent you are able to obtain is worth the investment. In other words, is the scope of protection meaningful? But to answer that question you really need to consider several business questions first… Wrapped up in what we have been discussing is a very simple question that many inventors fail to ask. It is this: is a market for your invention… The goal of this article has been to point out that there are a great number of things that need to be considered before you decide to move forward down the patent path. As with many complex systems in life there is no single correct way to move forward. The goal should be to move forward in a business responsible manner.