Posts Tagged ‘Utility Patents’

Effects of COVID-19 on Patents – Twice The Number of Abandonments

As companies hunker down for the effects of the COVID-19 virus, they are abandoning their IP protection at TWICE the normal rate. And it is likely to go up much further. AND this has never happened before. BlueIron’s study looked at recent USPTO abandonments to see what, if any, effects were from COVID-19. The results…

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1% 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…

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Data 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…

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USPTO’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.…

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What to Consider When Filing Patents Internationally

Updated 1 Jul 2021 Most Foreign Patents are a Vanity Project Many entrepreneurs like to go after foreign filings.  The normal course of business is to file a PCT application, then enter “national phase,” typically about two and a half years later. (“PCT” means Patent Cooperation Treaty, often mistakenly called an “international patent application.”  The…

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Patents 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…

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Patent 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…

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Patents Are Call Options On Technology

The only way for your patent to be valuable is to bring a product to market. This post was published on Medium. You can read it here. This post is an excerpt from my upcoming book “Startup IP Strategy.” A call option is an option to purchase a stock at a defined price. It is…

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