Posts Tagged ‘Patent Insurance’
Contingency Fee Litigation Is Only a Last Resort
If you are having to do contingency fee litigation on your patents, you did something wrong. Contingency fee litigation is a unique feature of American Law, where attorneys perform some or all of the litigation – and they get paid only if they win. Contingency fee litigation is often associated with the “ambulance chaser” attorneys…
Read MoreFull court press for patent licensing negotiations
Many companies want to license their technologies. But what happens when a company takes a license, then decides to quit paying – or refuses to negotiate after the first license runs out? LG Electronics is facing the same thing with TCL, a Chinese manufacturer of televisions. LG had a license agreement in place with TCL.…
Read MoreWhat Is Patent Infringement?
Patent infringement is when someone else uses your patented idea without permission. The strict, legal definition is when someone infringes or performs every limitation of at least one patent claim. This is found in 35 USC 271. Many inventors and entrepreneurs believe that having a patent means they are “protected.” Having a patent just means…
Read MoreHow Patent Licensing Works
On a small scale, a patent owner might worry about creating patents that can be asserted against competitors. The plan is to stop a competitor from copying. These thoughts are often where a startup stops the analysis. This concept is the essence of a good patent. But what happens when you get the patent? How…
Read MoreManagement of Patent Risk
Cipher.ai regularly releases some very interesting articles on patent risk. Their November 2021 article on “Management of Patent Risk” is available here. Cipher.ai surveyed 122 companies to look at strategies for handling IP risk. The IP risks are several. Cipher.ai uses the risk categories outlined in Edison in the Boardroom: Intrinsic risk – the risk…
Read MoreIP Indemnification for Small Companies
I am “too small” to get sued for patent infringement[1]. Many small companies believe, falsely, that they are too small to be sued. Very small companies can be targets for patent trolls, but what happens when their customers are sued? One of my friends had a small startup that had an automated bot for a…
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[1] is that they can mystically enforce their patent on an infringer. The notion of “protection” is mostly an illusion, unless you…
Read MoreWhat Are The Costs To Enforce or Defend a Patent?
Two stages of litigation: claim construction and the trail. Post Grant Review (or Inter-Partes Review) Patent litigation can be very expensive, and the costs of litigation go up considerably with the amount of money at risk. Not to mention, just getting a patent can be very expensive. The risk of patent litigation can be handled…
Read MoreSo You Have A Patent? Now What?
For many entrepreneurs, life goes on. The nasty secret is that now that they have this new asset, they don’t know what to do with it. They spent a lot of money, time, and energy getting the patent, but struggle with the value of it.
Read MorePatent Enforcement Insurance Makes Your Company Valuable
Why should I get a patent? I don’t have enough money to enforce it. Many startup companies don’t bother with patents because they don’t think they can enforce them. And they are right. A patent lawsuit can be very expensive, and the game of enforcement is really a big game of chicken: both sides are…
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