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IP Valuation in a Regulatory Framework
Regulatory requirements trump patents as the primary form of protection or moat[1] against a business.
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The Government is the Worst Customer – and the Worst Investor
We will always invest where Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand” is pushing things forward, and avoid businesses where the regulator’s pen can wipe it out.
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Handing the Keys to the Drunken Sailor and Hoping You Get Home
Letting the CTO manage patent policy is bad for business.
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Pitching Investors is Not “One-and-Done”
I have the enviable position of seeing lots of inventors who bootstrapped their companies along before they take outside investment (if they take any outside investment at all). This is – without question – the single best way to build a business.
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Registration Numbers
When I review patent applications, I always download the full prosecution history of the patent from the USPTO. The prosecution history is the formal, legal record of the back-and-forth between the applicant and the Patent Office, and includes all the papers as originally filed, as well as the rejections from the examiner and the responses…
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Waiting Room Inventors
A friend who is an angel investor asked my opinion on a company. I did not like it for a number of reasons, not the least of which was their poor IP strategy.
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Technology is always about firing someone.
The value proposition of “technology” is usually that an employer can fire someone. It is always about doing more work with fewer people. This typically has a short term advantage for a business owner, but typically create poorer experiences for their end users over the long run.
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Patents: An Imperfect System
The patent system is a clunky, one-size-fits-all system. It does not work for every invention or every industry, but the patent system as we know it has existed for over two centuries and industry has adapted.
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Printing Money and the Shiny New Toy
What drives the entrepreneur may be more complicated than what it seems…
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You are not a tech entrepreneur.
There are countless industries where technology can improve things. Most of these industries are bland, run-of-the-mill industries that deliver services. It may be plumbing, pest control, or even pumping gas at a convenience store. These benign, everyday businesses focus on delivering some product or service.