Patent Valuation
How to Spot Bad Patents
Investment-Grade Patent[1][2]s represent only a small sliver of the patent universe. Their value comes from a huge amount of research and thought. However, bad patents are easy to spot. These less-than-optimal patents have certain characteristics that can easily be identified by anyone: the inventor, the investor, or anyone in litigation. Use this as a first…
Read MoreWebinar: IP Due Diligence in Two Questions
There are two questions to ask every time you are dealing with patents: Can you tell if someone infringes? How hard is it to design around your patent? With these two questions, you are 90% of the way there on IP due diligence[1][2]. Here is my presentation to Band of Angels in October, 2020. References…
Read MoreTerminal Disclaimers – One for the Price of Two
Terminal disclaimers are costly for the client – but an easy money maker for patent attorneys. Terminal disclaimers are where you pay twice to get the same thing. They are a money maker for the USPTO – and your patent attorney. They should be avoided at all costs. In most cases, a terminal disclaimer is…
Read MoreStartup Funding: Apply for BlueIron Non-Dilutive Funding
BlueIron provides non-dilutive startup funding. BlueIron provides $60K or more non-dilutive startup funding for companies with great inventions. Our model is to invest in the full cost of getting patents for a company, including international (PCT) filing and expediting the patent through the United States Patent and Trademark Office. We fund companies *before* angel or…
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. Marketing is more important than patents As an investor who finances IP for startups, I want some data to support the investment in patents. The best strategy…
Read MoreData Driven Patents
Image (C) Russ Krajec 2020 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…
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.” Photo by Tommaso Pecchioli on Unsplash The calculus is simple to the entrepreneur: they think a…
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 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 MoreInventions Where BlueIron Does NOT Invest
There are some inventions where BlueIron will NOT invest. I see an obnoxious number of inventions and patents from startups. I estimate that I encounter 10-20 inventions per week lately, and many are not good candidates for us to invest. It is heartbreaking to say “no” to inventors where the invention does not seem to…
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