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SPEAK SOFTLY, BUT CARRY A BIG PATENT

How a Patent Shut Down a Competitor  In Only 24 Hours Nothing more forcefully drives home a lesson you’ve been teaching for years than when what you’ve been telling others for years happens to you. I’ve been reminding everyone for years that having a patent can provide real competitive benefits, even if you never have to spend a fortune litigating it. I liken it to carrying a pistol for self-defense, and probably never having to shoot it – you can usually scare off the muggers just by letting them know you have it and are willing to use it if  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | March 16, 2026 | Business, Firearms Industry Advice, Intellectual Property Advice, Patent | 0 Comments Read More »

HOW “CAVEMAN” PATENTS WON “BEST” AWARDS AT SHOT SHOW 2026

Sometimes you need to observe very carefully to notice a pattern.  Other times, it smacks you in the face. We love it when our clients get awards (turns out having successful clients is a pretty good business model, imagine that!)  But sometimes, we’re not surprised. “Best Carbine Award” from Recoil Magazine went to our client Stenzel Industries.  We’ve known about the innovations that make their carbine a winner for some time, having helped with the patent protection.  Congratulations! Long time client Franklin Armory is well known for their Binary®  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | February 19, 2026 | Business, Intellectual Property Advice, Opinion Pieces, Patent | 0 Comments Read More »

WHY YOU PROBABLY DON’T NEED A PATENT SEARCH

And the Key Signs That Indicate When You Do I love to give advice, especially when I know my prediction will never be wrong.  My favorite advice is to predict “a 50-50 chance of success,” because no matter the outcome I’m never wrong. My other favorite advice is recommending a patentability search.  Because no matter the results, my client is happy.  If we get “good” news, and nothing is found that blocks patentability, my client is happy.  If we get “bad” news, my client is grateful they have the disappointing information to help avoid making a bad  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | January 19, 2026 | Business, Firearms Industry Advice, Intellectual Property Advice, Opinion Pieces, Patent | 0 Comments Read More »

WHEN FOREIGN PATENTS MAKE SENSE FOR FIREARMS INVENTIONS

(Short Answer: “Rarely.” Except…) As an inventor myself, I know the enthusiastic feeling that your invention is going to be an incredible success, and wouldn’t it be a tragedy if you had only the US market protected and the rest of the world was knocking off your invention willy-nilly without paying you a penny.  Unthinkable, right? But good business decisions are about costs and benefits, and in most cases there’s a big difference between the US patent decision and the International “upgrade” decision.  Compared to the still-significant investment to  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | December 17, 2025 | Business, Firearms Industry Advice, Intellectual Property Advice, Patent | 0 Comments Read More »

LET’S GO BRANDIN’!

How to Pick Trademarks That Help You Sell, and Won't Get You Sued One of the most fun parts of my law practice is helping clients pick trademarks.  I don’t charge extra if I come up with an idea you love enough to use on a new product, or for your new company.  I always promise that some day when my portfolio of successful brand picks is impressive enough, I’ll put a fat price-tag on the service (pay only if you actually adopt one of my suggestions).  But then the pressure would be on, and the fun might end. I’ve written about branding before*, and urged  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | November 20, 2025 | Business, Firearms Industry Advice, Intellectual Property Advice, Opinion Pieces, Trademark | 0 Comments Read More »

HOW TO GET TOP DOLLAR FOR YOUR COMPANY IN FIVE YEARS

Sometimes, I know when clients have been reading this newsletter.  Sometimes, I’m blown away to see something I wrote about years ago drive a client’s strategy. I just took a call from a client who told me they were getting ready to sell their company, and could we see about resurrecting some old trademark registrations they had earlier decided to let drop to save the renewal cost.  You see, they knew that a fatter portfolio of intellectual property would strengthen their case for a high valuation of their company beyond annual profits and hard assets.  Here’s  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | October 18, 2025 | Firearms | 0 Comments Read More »