Better Patents
The Patent System is Broken – but not in the way you think it is.
The patent system has some weird quirks that makes it feel broken. In truth, you do not want to know how the sausage gets made at the Patent Office, and patent laws are all weirdly nuanced with few bright lines. That is just the way it is. The real problem is the patent applicants, not…
Read MoreBlueIron is Changing the Legal Industry
BlueIron was formed in response to a weakness in the way patents are prepared. My personal experience was that I needed a patent attorney’s advice and experience – and I paid for it – but he had continually refused to give it to me. It wasn’t until after I took the patent bar and began…
Read MoreFoundation of Investment Grade Patents
Foundation of investment grade patents is serious due diligence. Getting solid, investment-grade patents is less about finding the gem as much as removing the dirt so that there are more possible gems in the portfolio. We do not know which patent will ultimately be the gem, but we can dramatically increase our chances by removing…
Read MorePatent Funding: Better Patents from BlueIron
Patent Funding: How BlueIron Gives You Better Patent Quality One of the biggest ironies is that your patent attorney cannot give you good advice. But patent funding changes that. Patent attorneys are bound by the attorney/client privilege, which is a hallmark of our legal system. But it has some unintended consequences. One of which is…
Read MoreHow to Make Your Patent Strong Against Inter Partes Reexam
Strengthen your patent against Inter Partes Reexam One of the easiest ways for infringers to challenge an issued patent is through the Inter Partes Reexam process, commonly known as IPR. To successfully challenge a patent, someone has to produce a prior art document that would have changed the examiner’s mind. This is known as raising…
Read MoreBlueIron’s Patent Rating Checklist
A Patent Checklist to find out: How good is your invention? The spreadsheet contains many of the parameters discussed in BlueIron’s blog posts on patent due diligence. Please let us know if you have any suggestions/comments to make the checklist a better tool.
Read MoreFinancing Patents for a pre-Angel or pre-Seed Startup
Getting a patent before funding is a “chicken and egg” problem that BlueIronIP can solve. As a budding entrepreneur, you need patent protection before talking about your ideas – but you need to talk about your ideas to raise money. At the pre-Angel or pre-seed stage, a company typically has very little capital, so BlueIronIP…
Read MoreWhat is the cost of a cheap patent?
What is the cost of a cheap patent? It turns out to be very expensive. Some startup companies do not want to spend much money on patents, so they get the lowest cost provider for IP services. The result: a cheap patent. A cheap patent that might not have the proper claim scope to protect…
Read MorePatent Rejection – What it takes to get a patent issued
Your patent will typically be rejected by the examiner. Do not worry. The back-and-forth process between the examiner and applicant is a necessary part of getting a strong patent allowed. We want the examiner to fully understand the invention and do a competent job of searching. If the examiner does a poor job, your patent…
Read MoreConsidering Constraints When Evaluating Patentable Ideas
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Every invention has a set of constraints, and it is imperative to uncover and evaluate them when considering patenting. This applies to an inventor or business manager who is trying to ferret out ideas contained in a new product as well as the…
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