Business

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  [...]

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  [...]

NASGW Down SHOT Up


The Impeccably-Tailored Kelly McMillan Boldly Sports Cutting-Edge Mismatched Sneakers in San Antonio. It’s like they gather the industry and put on a convention just for yours truly. The NASGW Expo is a special favorite industry gathering. I “discovered” it only in more recent years, and have grown quite fond of it. It seems to include just about everyone I hope to  [...]

Why My Client Thanked Me When I Told Him His Baby Was Ugly


Because I’m constantly advising clients having branding challenges to read this old newsletter article, I decided to break my rule against reruns. Based on the feedback I have gotten, this may be one of the most valuable articles I have written in a long time. I hope you think it’s a “keeper” even the second time around. Guess who kept Daddy too busy to write a  [...]

Why are you still marketing to Poor people?


Our Industry’s Missing Market Segment Almost Nothing to Do With Guns, But... Have you ever sat down to a big round table with a bunch of industry folks, and the conversation just didn’t quite get off the ground? I had a dinner last month with a good client, but with a bunch of key people I didn’t yet know very well. When the conversation stalled, I got out my  [...]

When a Trademark Mistake Can Land You in Prison


And My Idea for a “Get-Out-of-Jail-Free” Card Not: "You're Fired" I tell people that I enjoy my patent and trademark work because at least no one can end up in jail. Then I saw a news story that made me realize otherwise. It involved a Mesa, Arizona police shooting. Never mind whether the shooting was justified, but lawyers for the “victim” are raising the issue of  [...]