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Licensing Patents as Part of Your Overall Patent Strategy
Outbound licensing is one option with a good patent portfolio. One or more patents can be developed for a licensing strategy in conjunction with or separate from a company’s main product. There are some technologies that are so large that one company may not have the resources to bring the technology to market or where the…
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Defensive Patent Strategies
Patents and patent applications are very effective marketing tools and deterrents to competitors. When a patent application is filed, a product may be properly marked as “patent pending.” This marking serves two very important functions. In a general marking sense, the “patent pending” or “patented” markings indicate to consumers that the product is unique and cannot…
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Patents Help Sell Your Company
When building a patent portfolio with the intent to sell a company, the main audience is not potential infringers, but the acquiring company. Depending on the situation, the acquiring company may have any of several different reasons for the acquisition. For example, the acquiring company may be looking to add an existing product to its product…
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Drafting Patents for Licensing
Patents that are intended for licensing have a distinctively different feel to them and a different method of drafting than patents that protect a specific product line. Here, our intent is to protect an idea that may potentially be more valuable at the end of the patent life and may be used in ways that…
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Protecting a Product With Patents
Most companies get patent protection to protect a product. This is the first line of defense and is the most simplistic manner to use patents. In this case, the business interest is two fold. The primary goal is to prevent competitors from directly infringing the product going out the door and the secondary goal is to set…
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BlueIron has a Vested Interest in Your Business
BlueIron’s interests are more aligned with your business interest than your patent attorney’s interests. How does the patent attorney tell if your invention is “good”? It only depends on whether your check clears the bank. BlueIron actually cares if your patent has real commercial value. Because your inventions are the only collateral BlueIron has for…
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Patent Prosecution Highway
The fastest and best way to get your patents: The Patent Prosecution Highway. The Patent Prosecution Highway is a program available at many patent offices around the world that put your patent application on a fast track to issue. BlueIron consistently gets US patents issued within 12-18 months using the PPH, and has extensive experience…
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Expert Portfolio Curation
Selecting the right inventions for patent coverage makes all the difference in whether your patent assets will be commercially useful. BlueIron has years of experience in curating portfolios, and uses several sophisticated metrics to help identify which inventions will be successful in defending your company’s marketplace, suitable for outbound licensing, or otherwise helpful in your…
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Patent Portfolio Development vs. Just Getting a Patent
Most patents are a waste of money. Why is it that Apple and Samsung each have many thousands of patents, but when they start a patent war with each other over, they only assert a small handful of patents? For a small business with limited resources, judiciously selecting ideas for patenting can make the difference…
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Patents Need to Track Your Product Strategy
If a patent has any business value, it must relate to concrete, real products that add value to people’s lives. Patents that cover hypothetical ideas and wishful thinking have no commercial value whatsoever. Whether you write patents to defend a product space, enhance your company’s value, create “trading card” assets for negotiating with competitors or…