Patent Process
The Patent Box – Part of European Patent Reform
The United Kingdom’s Patent Box is a tax incentive to have IP protection – is it coming to America? The UK has a tax incentive called the Patent Box. In essence, profits derived from patented technology are taxed at a very low rate – 10% – while other profits are taxed at their normal rate.…
Read MoreWorthless Patents – How to Avoid the Biggest Pitfalls
Airplane wreckage on black sand beach, Iceland Worthless patent[1]s: 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…
Read MoreIndependent Inventors are a Walking Malpractice Suit
Independent inventors are terrifying for patent attorneys. As I began to learn patent law 20+ years ago, a senior attorney described independent inventors as “walking malpractice lawsuits”. His way of handing independent inventors was to not tell them anything, and for the client to decide the best course of action. The client had to become…
Read MoreWhy Patent Attorneys Always Suggest Getting a Patent
Patent Attorney Liability This story is not about only having a hammer and everything looks like a nail. There is more to the story. Think about the patent attorney who is meeting a new client. The client is unsure about whether or not to get a patent on their idea. The patent attorney suggests trying…
Read MoreProblems Caused by the Attorney/Client Relationship
The attorney/client relationship[1] is one of the most sacred and important tenants of the US legal system, but it causes weird side effects. The attorney/client relationships HURTS startup companies when it comes to patents. The attorney/client relationship can be a problem, especially in areas of business. Because of the ultra-high importance of this relationship, the…
Read MoreHow to Review a Patent Application
How can you mess up reviewing a patent application? It’s a lot easier than you think. Some comments made by an inventor, even the most innocuous comments, can be misconstrued if a patent ever was litigated. Rather than create a messy trail of documented comments remember the most important rule: Good news by mail, bad…
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. Related Articles Actor Analysis for Patent Infringement Patent Descriptions: Every Word Hurts You…
Read MoreWriting Your Own Patent
Writing your own patent? Do a business plan first. Some inventors write their own patent applications. This can be a very valuable exercise because forcing yourself to put the invention down on paper can help you better understand the invention, as well as think through new versions of the invention. In many cases, these pro…
Read MoreActor Analysis for Patent Infringement
Due Diligence for Patent[1]s – Actor Analysis[2] tells who is the likely infringer. Actor analysis is often overlooked when valuing inventions for patenting, or for valuing patent[3][4]s once they are issued. With actor analysis, we want to know who is the actual actor that infringes the invention. This analysis often identifies patents that you would…
Read MoreCalculating the Economic Value of a Patent
Due Diligence for Patent[1]s – The value of an invention is proportional to the ECONOMIC impact it has on a product or market. The economic value of an invention is notoriously hard to estimate, but such analysis can be used to compare different inventions to stack rank the inventions – or to highlight the advantages/disadvantages…
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