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SHOT Show 2033

What will it look like? Where is everybody? I hadn’t set foot in Las Vegas for three years.  I felt like Rip Van Winkle, but wasn’t quite sure why.  Had Las Vegas changed?  Or was it me?  Last time I had left behind a newborn, and now she bosses me around in paragraphs peppered with words like “actually” and “because.”  A different digit at the start of my age might have made things hit differently, too. The Uber was a Tesla, of course.  The exhaust aroma in the airport parking garage made me wonder whether that too might soon be as distant a  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | February 1, 2023 | Firearms | 0 Comments Read More »

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 | January 10, 2023 | Firearms, Firearms Industry Advice, Patent | 0 Comments Read More »

HOW YOU CAN HELP ELON MUSK SAVE THE GUN INDUSTRY

It’s appalling when the President of the United States finally says out loud what we know Democrats have long been thinking about our rights and our industry: “The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick. It has no socially redeeming value, not a single solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers.” -President Joe Biden, November 24, 2022 Contrast that to an old-school Democrat running for President in 1960, who said the following and was never criticized for it, even as he was running successfully for Vice  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | December 7, 2022 | Firearms, Opinion Pieces | 0 Comments Read More »

HOW A “CAVEMAN” PATENT CAN AFFORDABLY SECURE YOUR INVENTION

It's been 10 years since I wrote this.  Back then, the biggest change in patent law in my lifetime took effect.  And it changed everything. The big change was that patent rights for an invention go to the first to file a patent application, not the first to invent (who has documents showing he invented it first).  This means that if you show a new product at SHOT, anyone can rush off and file a patent application on it.  Unless you can prove in court that they learned it from you (easier said than done)- they win. You lose.  Not only do you lose the chance to  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | November 8, 2022 | Firearms, Firearms Industry Advice, How To, Patent | 0 Comments Read More »

WHY ELON MUSK HATES PATENTS

And why you should too, if your business is just like his. I’m a Tesla Fan-Boy, and that means I’m a SpaceX nerd and am occasionally accused of being an Elon Musk worshipper.  So I couldn’t miss Elon’s appearance on Jay Leno’s Garage, where Elon gave Jay a tour of his SpaceX launch facilities down in the very southern tip of Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico right on the Mexican border.  The story was about the SpaceX giant Starship rockets that have 2.5 times the power of a Saturn V, and the cargo capacity of a 747.  The boosters are designed to be launched,  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | October 4, 2022 | Firearms | 0 Comments Read More »

HOW A “LIFEBOAT” KEEPS YOUR PATENT RIGHTS AFLOAT

...saving money until you are ready. Sometimes a topic is important enough to revisit after a few years. This one reexamines the frequent question of how to “extend” a provisional patent application beyond its natural 12-month life. My readers all know that the smart start for a small inventor or a new company with an invention to protect is a Provisional patent application. For a low flat fee of $1500, and with my personal guidance, templates and coaching, we earn First-to-File “Patent Pending” status by filing an inventor-created document that I review and  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | September 1, 2022 | Firearms, Intellectual Property Advice, Patent | 0 Comments Read More »