This one goes back more than a few years, but it’s being resurrected because the issues are timeless, and it’s a little amusing looking back when I was just a bit feistier, at least in print. Email me if you have a good guess as to what year it first appeared. It was so tempting, but I didn’t dare poke the giant beast, even though I could have gotten away with it, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
(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 [...]
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 [...]
