TECHNOLOGY ORIENTED COMPANIES AND START-UPS

There are many things an entrepreneur wants to or has to do himself or herself, from sales, to the core operations of the company, to replacing the light bulbs when they burn out. Entrepreneurs therefore tend to develop a "can-do," or more precisely, "can-do-it-yourself," attitude.
Unfortunately, patent evaluation, drafting, management, and enforcement are NOT tasks most entrepreneurs are equipped to handle on their own; any more than they would be prepared to perform gall bladder surgery on themselves--with or without general anesthesia. Nor would it make any economic sense for them to master the surgical techniques they would need to master to perform such an operation: even if they could eventually perform the surgery, the time required would take them away from running the company and managing the core parts of the business.
Badly-drafted patents rarely capture the value of the underlying technology developed by the firm; and therefore, even if they have a "feel-good" effect of accomplishment in the short run for the self-filer, in the end they usually do not accomplish the company's goals. Rather than spending the time to reinvent the wheel, the entrepreneur's time, which is even more valuable than money, should be focused on the management aspects of the patenting decision .
In particular, the entrepreneur should ask him- or herself a few threshold questions relating to the patent's potential value to the company:
The answers to these questions will usually tell the entrepreneur everything he or she needs to know to decide whether patenting this invention makes sense for the company.
REMEMBER: IP Law is an equalization tool. An opportunity, often the only one, to compete via ideas against the big players.
Unfortunately, patent evaluation, drafting, management, and enforcement are NOT tasks most entrepreneurs are equipped to handle on their own; any more than they would be prepared to perform gall bladder surgery on themselves--with or without general anesthesia. Nor would it make any economic sense for them to master the surgical techniques they would need to master to perform such an operation: even if they could eventually perform the surgery, the time required would take them away from running the company and managing the core parts of the business.
Badly-drafted patents rarely capture the value of the underlying technology developed by the firm; and therefore, even if they have a "feel-good" effect of accomplishment in the short run for the self-filer, in the end they usually do not accomplish the company's goals. Rather than spending the time to reinvent the wheel, the entrepreneur's time, which is even more valuable than money, should be focused on the management aspects of the patenting decision .
In particular, the entrepreneur should ask him- or herself a few threshold questions relating to the patent's potential value to the company:
- What is the company's purpose in obtaining the patent?
- Is the idea novel (or "non-obvious")? You can take a look for yourself to how challenging and time consuming it can be to address this fundamental point without legal training even with the guidance help of the USPTO.
- Is the idea a game-changer, especially (but not exclusively) from the perspective of the company's business operations?
- If it is a game-changer, will it change the game during the 20-year life of the patent?
The answers to these questions will usually tell the entrepreneur everything he or she needs to know to decide whether patenting this invention makes sense for the company.
REMEMBER: IP Law is an equalization tool. An opportunity, often the only one, to compete via ideas against the big players.
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