Intellectual Property Advice

HOW “CAVEMAN” PATENTS WON “BEST” AWARDS AT SHOT SHOW 2026


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  [...]

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 advice is recommending a patentability search.  Because no matter the results, my client is happy.  If we get  [...]

WHEN FOREIGN PATENTS MAKE SENSE FOR FIREARMS INVENTIONS


(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  [...]

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  [...]

THE ROYALTY DREAM (How to License Your Inventions)


Reality Check: The Bubble I’ve Busted a Thousand Times The classic newbie inventor has a good idea, falls in love with it, and wants to sell it to a big company.  That NEVER happens, almost.  Here’s what I counsel clients a dozen times a year: your odds of success increase vastly the farther along you are with your invention, your patent, your product, and your  [...]

REMEMBERING THE REMINGTON ROYALTY LESSON


Too Big to Fail? Remington’s Bizarre “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” Campaign It was fourteen years ago that I wrote about one of our industry friends playing an interesting voicemail at the SHOT Show. Consider all that has changed since then. These friends are innovators, with some valuable patents in their portfolio. Because Remington liked one of their inventions,  [...]