Patent Basics
USPTO Abandonment Rate Nearly Tripling Since COVID
Patents are being abandoned at historically high rates, pointing to a lack of confidence in the future. An updated analysis by BlueIron shows that the COVID crisis has markedly affected business’s IP strategy. A previous analysis done in March is here. The abandonment rate has shot up since COVID started, especially for Small Entities, which…
Read MoreWhy Your Patent Attorney Does Not Want Your Patent To Be Granted
There is a perverse incentive for your patent attorney to *not* get your patent allowed. It is called “money.” Clients are at the mercy of their patent attorneys. For small companies who do not have inhouse patent counsel, they outsource their patents to outside counsel who have a financial incentive to keep a patent pending…
Read MoreInventing and “Feeling It”
It is easy to think you were an inventor when you really were not. When I was an engineer at HP, I wrote up 3-4 invention disclosures before a meeting, where we were going to discuss a new product. At the meeting, I pitched a couple of the ideas *I had already submitted* for patenting. …
Read More1% Patent – 99% Execution
As we all know, business is usually 10% idea and 90% execution. The successful companies rarely have the single best product on the market, but they do have successful execution. Startup companies – and any business with a new product – spend more time doing product market fit than anything else. Figuring out what the…
Read MoreData Driven Patents
Updated April 2021. The patent system requires that we look ahead and guess the future. If we are right, there is a huge reward. This process can be powerfully addictive, as it is the same psychology as lottery tickets. Patents are bets that the marketplace will adopt a technology. The interesting characteristic is that the…
Read MoreHow Big Law Hurts Startups
Many inventors and entrepreneurs like to tout their relationship with a Big Law Firm. It is too bad they do not know how the sausage gets made. Touting that Big Law wrote your patents is not a badge of quality I review countless patents for startup companies and talk to lots of entrepreneurs. One of…
Read MoreUSPTO’s Track One vs Patent Prosecution Highway
Updated April 2020 Why the USPTO’s Track One is the mark of a lazy patent attorney. If your patent attorney is suggesting “Track One” to expedite your patent case – be wary. It is a trap. I would go so far as to say that Track One is the mark of a lazy patent attorney.…
Read MoreThe Entrepreneur and the Angel Investor – The Story of Bad IP Protection.
An angel investor will ask the entrepreneur “Do you have a patent?” The next thing the entrepreneur does is run out and gets a patent. Is this smart? Note: this excerpt is from my forthcoming book “Startup IP Strategy.” The calculus is simple to the entrepreneur: they think a patent will help to raise money,…
Read MoreThe 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 MorePatents and Psychology – The Fear of Loss and the Lottery Ticket
The Fear of Loss A patent brings out weird psychology of entrepreneurs and investors alike. They are their own worst enemy. By the way, this is one of the reasons why the patent system is broken, but not the way you think it is. Note: this is an excerpt from my forthcoming book “Startup IP…
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