Blog

How To Preserve Your Patent Rights – Even Before You Can Afford To

My “Lifeboat” Patent Strategy Re-Explained 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 $1000, and with my personal guidance and coaching, we earn First-to-File “Patent Pending” status by filing an inventor-created document that I review  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | May 10, 2018 | Business, How To, Intellectual Property Advice | 0 Comments Read More »

How to Debate Gun Control with a Persuasion Genius

You gave me such a good response to last month’s newsletter that I’m staying political this month. Readers may know I’m a big fan of Dilbert creator Scott Adams for his uncannily predictive observations on Trump and persuasion matters.  He happens to be a pot-smoking California liberal, but I truly admire his open mind and fresh way of looking at things.  I highly recommend both his autobiographical How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big and the recent explanation of Trump’s success Win Bigly. He’s the reason I stopped wasting time on Facebook to  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | March 29, 2018 | Firearms, How To, Opinion Pieces | 0 Comments Read More »

Why I’ve Never Been More Proud to be an NRA Member

How to Respond to the Headlines Not again! I should probably feel a little guilty that this reaction isn’t just about regretting another tragedy borne of evil, but includes a dose of political dread for the inevitable political exploitation of another headline-grabbing. I don’t write about politics very often. By the time this newsletter reaches you the headlines are usually forgotten, and any predictions or observations I could make are likely obsolete in light of new facts. But this month I want to share some thoughts and principles that might still be pertinent  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | March 6, 2018 | Firearms, Opinion Pieces, Other | 0 Comments Read More »

SHOT SHOW 2018

The Health of the Industry? First, my immune system is checking in “safe” after returning from the Show. I think there was much more health consciousness and courtesy at this show than ever before as we all come to grips with the fact that the show is unmissable even for the ailing, but one we each need to survive. I’d like to thank all those who offered fist bumps or apologies instead of germy handshakes – and all those who had hand sanitizer available everywhere. Maybe it used to be cool not to be nervous about germs, but these days everyone seems to have gotten  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | February 8, 2018 | Business, Firearms, Firearms Industry Advice | 0 Comments Read More »

Pop Goes The Weasel

How to Beat the Weaselly Arguments From Your Competitor’s Patent Attorney... The “Keep Alive” Strategy Revealed Some Lawyers are Cuter than Others There’s nothing quite as sweet as when your patent application earns its “Notice of Allowance” and is about to become a patent. It means your invention was truly novel, and your patent attorney did a good job. In a short while you’ll be able to stop any competitors who are copying your product – or rest easy knowing that if any infringers pop up, you have the power to stop them. Hopefully. A wise old  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | January 4, 2018 | Books & Resources, Business, Firearms Industry Advice, Intellectual Property Advice, Patent | 0 Comments Read More »

How to be Truly Ready for the SHOT Show

When anyone in the gun industry gets a whiff of pumpkin pie, their gut tightens a bit because they know how much work they have to do to get ready for the SHOT Show. It’s that time of year. The calendar may say there’s a couple of months, but with Christmas and all the pre-SHOT chores there isn’t much time at all. You probably had your rooms booked right after the show last year, and your flights booked in summer. But you’ve been working all year, developing new product and new branding strategies. Based on what I hear from clients, a disproportionate number of  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | December 7, 2017 | Business, Firearms, Firearms Industry Advice, How To | 0 Comments Read More »