Dec 24, 2019
Don't ask the barber if you need a haircut.
The conflict of interest between the client and the attorney is huge.
We look at an example of an inventor who thought he was getting a "good" patent but it turns out that the patent attorney was only responsible getting "a" patent. The client was disappointed when his...
Dec 10, 2019
Inventors - and virtually everyone in the patent process - have huge blind spots.
We look at Tropicana's patents on the single greatest invention in their industry in half a century, and see how at every level nobody would do the math to see if a patent was the right strategy.
It turns out that Tropicana gave away at...
Nov 26, 2019
Patent valuation is really slippery, and completely depends on the context.
Patents can be thought of as call options on technology. They are a time-limited bet that the market will adopt a technology.
At the beginning, the patent is an out-of-the-money call option and has only potential value. Once infringement...
Nov 19, 2019
Customer feedback is essential to
know if a patent is worth the expense - but some people think their
idea will be "stolen" if they talk to customers.
What should they do?
Two answers:
One, if you need to tell people about your invention when doing customer discover, you are doing it wrong.
Two, there is almost 100%...
Nov 5, 2019
Most startups worry about being able to use their patents, since they do not have a war chest to assert the patents.
Other than getting patent enforcement insurance, startups use patents in many different ways. Mostly, they use patents to negotiate deals with competitors, start joint ventures, cross license to get...