Blog

HOW TO PICK BRAND NAMES THAT MAKE YOUR BUSINESS MORE VALUABLE

It’s a story I have told for years: I had lunch with a new client.  He has some great technology, and a strong foundation for a new business.  And I faced the too-frequent dilemma when confronted by a lousy trademark he wanted to adopt. Do I tell him my actual opinion, or do I salute and earn the reward of helping him register a weak brand name that will impair the prospects for his success? He had come to me because he knew he was going to have to drop an old brand as he expanded, because there were too many conflicts out there, and he had never had it searched  [...]

SHOT Show Bar Exam?

Gossip, Tips, and Hacks After My 22nd SHOT-iversary Serenity on the 10th Floor? This was easily the best SHOT Show ever.  After 22 years, I’m starting to get the hang of it.  (Confession:  I now count my SHOT Show attendance years to include the Covid year and the skipped mask mandate year.  My first was 2002, and that’s where I count from.) My show is different from most.  I don’t exhibit. I had no scheduled appointments.  No dinner reservations.  And I’m solo.  But I have a great team at home that prepared me.  They actually gave me a list of  [...]

My Reply to The Guy Who Asked: “WHY SHOULD I HIRE YOU AND NOT LEGALZOOM?”

Most people aren’t afraid to invest in what they need, but few people want to learn later that they overpaid, or didn’t get a good value.  So even though it’s the first time I’ve been asked the question, I can understand why a careful entrepreneur would ask it.  He’s simply asking: “Please tell me why I’m not a sucker to pay you what seems like ten times what LegalZoom is charging.” LegalZoom is the big web-based law firm, and they probably file more trademarks per year than any other firm.  They’re so big they’ve been buying up other companies,  [...]

SHOT Show Legal Prep Checklist

As we approach the SHOT Show, it’s important to get your legal ducks in a row, to be sure you aren’t losing valuable rights, or weakening the rights you already have.  Time is short so action may be urgent, but the action needed may be simpler, faster, and cheaper than you think. Pre-SHOT Patent Advice Preserve your patent rights.  The best NDA is a pending patent application.  It lets you talk about (or sell) your invention without worrying that someone who hears you will file their own.  You don’t need to file a formal patent application on every possible  [...]

HOW HOLLYWOOD KILLS DOZENS EVERY YEAR AND OUR INDUSTRY GETS THE BLAME

Even though I’ve been a full-time industry professional for over twenty years, few people realize that I came to firearms later in life.  Believe it or not, the first time I ever actually ever fired a firearm was after I received my law degree (33 years ago).  Of course, that meant that my enthusiasm (and buying habits) roared like a wildfire, and I caught up fast.  Way back 22 years ago, I was simply excited at the idea of working for some firearms industry companies, just because of the free stuff and good deals I might get.  Since then, it turns out that I'm like  [...]

HOW TO BE A SMART PATENT INVESTOR

The True Cost of Patent Protection, and an Ideal Tool to Make Even Smarter Patent Investment Decisions In response to the latest newsletter, one reader wrote me to ask about when it makes financial sense to invest in a patent: As an aside, an interesting article for a future Bulletproof newsletter might be a discussion of when a patent makes financial sense (and importantly, when it does not).  I have filed more than a few patent applications of my own, many of which failed to be granted, and all but one of which didn’t “pay off.”  I once came up with a cool  [...]