Curating a Portfolio

Exclusive Licenses Can Be More Valuable Than Owning Patents Outright

Own or Rent?  Exclusive Licenses Can Be More Valuable Than Owning Patents Outright. Patents encapsulate the hopes and dreams of a company and many investors, CEOs, and inventors have a negative gut reaction about not “owning” their patents.  For some reason, “owning” their patents is a deeply emotional issue, but it should not be.  Exclusive…

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Foundation 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…

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BlueIron Skewers Traditional Patent Attorney Role with Unique Investment Model

BlueIron IP skewers traditional patent attorney role with unique investment model FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Jan 18, 2016 LOVELAND – Protecting a startup’s intellectual property is one of the most important milestones for any new tech-based business and one of the biggest factors for success, but conventional patent attorneys can make it a costly and confusing…

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How to Get a Good Patent

How to Get a Good Patent How to get a good patent? It is easy to get a worthless patent, but quite hard to file a good one. A good patent starts with a good invention. The invention should have a high value if the invention were to be licensed or sold to competitors in…

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Patents As Investments

BlueIron treats patents as investments. But we don’t invest in everything. We do not invest in technologies where we don’t think there is a market for the patents alone. BlueIron treats client’s patents like collateral for loans. Our investment is protected only by the value that the patents would have on the open market, if…

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Inventions Where BlueIron Will NOT Invest

There are some inventions where BlueIron will NOT invest. I see an obnoxious number of inventions and patents from startups. Almost all of them are not good candidates for us to invest. It is heartbreaking to say “no” to inventors where the invention does not seem to be ‘big’ enough to be a saleable, stand-alone…

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Investment Grade Patents Start with a Solid Foundation

An investment-grade patent starts with a solid foundation. Most patents are worthless, and getting a good patent 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 gem, but we can dramatically increase our…

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Patents are Similar to Stock Market Options

Patents are an inherently risky investment and have lots of similarities to options trading. This is because they have value only when the market comes to them. At the time you purchase an option – and at the time you create a patent – you must place a bet on where the market will go.…

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How 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…

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Worthless Patents – How to Avoid the Biggest Pitfalls

Worthless patents: they don’t have to be that way. Worthless patents happen for two reasons: the original invention was not selected properly and the patent was poorly prosecuted with the patent examiner. Properly selecting the invention is crucial for getting a good patent. Your conventional patent attorney will tell you if there is prior art,…

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