A typical marketing consultant would tell me I’m crazy to reveal the secrets in this month’s newsletter, but I have to be honest with my readers: Y’all worry too much*. *Yes, you might have detected a change in my language since our relocation to Texas now more than 10 years ago. DFW is now our home port. The classic marketers say that the two greatest [...]
The Surprises and Secrets of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) Photo Credit: Oleg Volk In the patent world, one of the most important, yet surprisingly overrated, issues is secrecy. Yet while it’s a needless fear for many, it can make sense to protect yourself when you have to trust someone else with your secrets. An NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) is also known as a [...]
It’s a story I have told for years: I had lunch with a new client. He has some great technology, and a strong foundation for a new business. And I faced the too-frequent dilemma when confronted by a lousy trademark he wanted to adopt. Do I tell him my actual opinion, or do I salute and earn the reward of helping him register a weak brand name that will impair the [...]
Most people aren’t afraid to invest in what they need, but few people want to learn later that they overpaid, or didn’t get a good value. So even though it’s the first time I’ve been asked the question, I can understand why a careful entrepreneur would ask it. He’s simply asking: “Please tell me why I’m not a sucker to pay you what seems like ten times what [...]
As we approach the SHOT Show, it’s important to get your legal ducks in a row, to be sure you aren’t losing valuable rights, or weakening the rights you already have. Time is short so action may be urgent, but the action needed may be simpler, faster, and cheaper than you think. Pre-SHOT Patent Advice Preserve your patent rights. The best NDA is a pending patent [...]
The True Cost of Patent Protection, and an Ideal Tool to Make Even Smarter Patent Investment Decisions In response to the latest newsletter, one reader wrote me to ask about when it makes financial sense to invest in a patent: As an aside, an interesting article for a future Bulletproof newsletter might be a discussion of when a patent makes financial sense (and [...]
