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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 »

THE COOLEST THING I’VE EVER OWNED

(And Why Republicans Need to Erase their EV Blind Spot) Fun in the "Frunk" Sometimes, new technology is so disruptive that it becomes a magnet for attention, even to those with no actual need or interest in the technology.  Lately, I notice widespread curmudgeonry from some of my smart and perceptive friends and clients in the firearms community on social media.  A startling number of people like us are suspicious of or even hostile to electric vehicles (EVs).  There seems to an anxiety among level headed- conservatives that these newfangled devices are there to  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | August 3, 2022 | Business, Humor, Opinion Pieces | 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 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 before making a bad investment  [...]

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

GOING ABROAD WITH YOUR PATENTS

When Foreign Patent Protection Makes Sense for Firearms Inventions (The answer is “Probably not, unless…”) 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  [...]

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

IT’S TIME TO TWEET

My 10-Step “Twitter Bootcamp” Gets You Ready for Free Speech Under Elon Musk’s Ownership Now that Twitter is owned by someone who seems to like both freedom and capitalism, it’s time for everyone reading these words to reconsider Twitter. Like you, I skipped all the MySpace, TikTok, SnapChat fads, and for years skipped Twitter as just another apparent waste of time with a silly name that I couldn’t take seriously.  (I’m still not an Instagram user, nor Pinterest, and never got any benefit out of LinkedIn from the very early years).  But let’s get one  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | May 6, 2022 | Opinion Pieces | 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 | April 14, 2022 | Firearms, Intellectual Property Advice, Trademark | 0 Comments Read More »