Business Uses for Patents
Patents in a Business Context
Why patents as a “lottery ticket” is a losing proposition. A business owner makes hard business decisions, especially when it comes to IP. There is only so much money and so much time, so how do you decide? Patents represent enormous potential value, and they feel like a lottery ticket. The risk to reward –…
Read MoreWhy Marketing Is More Important than Patents
Entrepreneurs have been fed this lie that the first thing they need to do is get a patent, then work on the business. This is a bad strategy. As an investor who finances IP for startups, I want some data to support the investment in patents. The best strategy is to do the marketing first,…
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 MorePatents Help Sell Your Company
(Updated 10 Oct 2021.) IP plays a big role to sell your company, especially if you are a startup company. Most people think about building an IP portfolio for “protection.” Somehow, the patent value is that they can mystically enforce their patent on an infringer. The notion of “protection” is mostly an illusion, unless you…
Read MorePatent Myths – “Broad Claims are a Good Thing.”
Inventors like to think that their patents are “broad” and somehow that is good. It is not. The risks with broad patents are that they are more easily invalidated, but it is basically a sales pitch that patent attorneys use to make more money. Narrow patents are bad, too. (Learn more about this and other…
Read MoreWhat Risk Is BlueIron Taking When Financing A Patent?
BlueIron is taking several risks when financing a patent. BlueIron is taking the risk that the patent will even issue. BlueIron is making an investment in researching the invention, writing the patent, and getting the patent through the patent office. If BlueIron fails to get a patent, you can walk away from the deal at…
Read MoreWhy Startup Patents Are Doomed From The Start
Patents for small companies are fundamentally different from patents for large companies. The decisions made – and skills needed – to develop the two are very different. There are several problems facing a startup company when getting patents. The biggest problem: the skillset needed for a startup’s patents is not practiced in the conventional law…
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 MoreLoans for Your Patents
Yes, you can borrow against your patents. BlueIron can provide loans of $2 to 50M or more using only your patents as collateral. Your company is based on your creative ideas, which you have protected with your patents. But if those patents have value, can I loan against them? Yes, you can! BlueIron has an…
Read MoreShould I Get A Patent Before Talking To Customers?
No. As an investor in patents, I am willing to wait for the Second Patent. BTW, if you need to tell someone your invention when you are doing customer discovery, you are doing it wrong. In my business of financing patents for startup companies, I am usually willing to pass on the First Patent for…
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