Do You Like My Invention?

Inventors often ask for my feedback on their inventions, but the only thing I ask about is revenue. As an investor who focuses on IP, I get asked for feedback on inventions and patents. I have written hundreds, maybe even a thousand patent applications, reviewed countless more, invested in startup businesses, co-founded one, been an…

Read More

Communication Hygiene: Things You Never Say To Your Patent Attorney

Good news in writing – bad news by phone. Inventors have extraordinary power in the patent process, especially in litigation. An inventor’s opinion or comments can often be twisted during litigation and ultimately, used to invalidate a patent or discredit the patent owner. There are things you should never say to your patent attorney, at…

Read More

Avoid Wishful Thinking Patents

I just want “protection,” but I have a run-of-the-mill product. Most startup CEOs want patents because they want ‘protection,’ so they go to a patent attorney. And the patent attorney is in the unfortunate situation of having to find something “inventive” amongst a bunch of run-of-the-mill technology. For early stage startup companies, the entrepreneur becomes…

Read More

Damage Control: Filing Patents After An Employee Leaves

Capturing ideas so you own them can limit the damage a key employee might inflict when they go to a competitor. A company-wide strategy for patents can have ancillary benefits when dealing with employee issues. Let’s say your company is in a highly competitive market for talent, and a key inventor/employee announced that they are going…

Read More

Risks of Investing in Government-Sponsored Research

“March-in” rights under 37 CFR 401.6 allow the government to re-possess a patent using a very arbitrary process. One reason NOT to invest in startups based on government-sponsored research, including patents from universities. Inventors can get patents on government-sponsored research, and may university patents have a statement in the text of the patent that states…

Read More

Showing Up – The Simplest Thing

Being a good steward of capital is the only metric that matters. As an early stage investor, I have only one meaningful metric: a good steward of capital. We do lots of due diligence, dig through endless agreements, check references, review contracts, and look at countless details. But in the end, we are trying to…

Read More

Contingency Fee Litigation Is Only a Last Resort

If you are having to do contingency fee litigation on your patents, you did something wrong. Contingency fee litigation is a unique feature of American Law, where attorneys perform some or all of the litigation – and they get paid only if they win. Contingency fee litigation is often associated with the “ambulance chaser” attorneys…

Read More

IP Theft – Starting that “Side Project”

“He doesn’t own my brain” – Oh, yes he does. Doing the entrepreneurial gig is hard. There are countless barriers and endless hurdles to overcome, and many entrepreneurs relentlessly power through them. But stealing IP is never, ever, appropriate. Here’s the fact pattern: Entrepreneur starts a company and takes on investors. One of the investors…

Read More

Licensing Inventions from Independent Inventors

Understanding motivations is key. I was an engineer for 13 years before switching to patent law, which was over 20 years ago.  My engineering career was mostly in the manufacturing side, designing fixturing and tooling for production lines.  However, I had a product idea that I wanted to invent and license products to companies. I…

Read More