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Contingency Fee Litigation Is Only a Last Resort
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 who charge no money up front, but will take 30-60% of the winnings of the lawsuits.
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IP Theft – Starting that “Side Project”
Doing the entrepreneurial gig is hard. There are countless barriers and endless hurdles to overcome, and many entrepreneurs relentlessly power through them.
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Licensing Inventions from Independent Inventors
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.
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Ideas from Outsiders: Not Always a Good Bet
Many entrepreneurs attempt to start businesses by coming into an industry as an outsider. As an angel investor, I generally don’t like these kinds of entrepreneur situations – and I especially do not like independent inventors who write patents in this manner.
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Method Claims and Undetectability
Method claims are especially difficult to detect, but they have another twist that makes them less important than “apparatus” claims.
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Unintended Consequences of Business Decisions
My first job after college was at McDonnell Douglas, a (former) giant airplane company in St. Louis. It was at the very tail end of the Cold War and we were building the F-15, F-18, and Harrier fighter jets.
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Lots of inventors means lots of problems.
There are many patents that have many inventors. It is not uncommon to see 4, 5, 6, or even more inventors listed on a patent. In fact, there are over 200 patents with at least 25 inventors – some have 130+ inventors!
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Patent Value – Revenue is the only factor that matters.
TL;DR: Realistic patent valuations are based on *context*. I can tell your patent value by how much revenue it produces. If your patent is infringed, I can calculate possible damages and likelihood of recovery. If it is not infringed, it has *potential* value, but not *realized* value. In other words, it does not have value…
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Cringe-worthy: “There is nothing like it on the market”
One of my most hated phrases from entrepreneurs.
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The Myth of an Early Filing Date for a Patent
Updated 23 Oct 2025