One of the most frequent questions I get goes something like this: “I have a really cool idea, but (name of big company or university) has a patent on that.” With over 8,000,000 patents issued to date and thousands of new patents issued weekly, the chances are good that there are patents out there that [&hellip
When talking with a new client or a potential client about their IP position, needs and strategy, I always start by asking the same question: “which feature of your product do you fear competitors copying.” This question leads to a discussion about what really sets the particular company/product apart from all the current and future [&hellip
For any entrepreneur starting their company, the reward for a lot of hard work is typically a great new product that hopefully leads to customers, sales and wealth. Of course, the end goal also often includes an exit strategy. Generally, the exit strategy has been to be acquired or to have a successful IPO. The [&hellip
One of the biggest debates leading up to the passage of the America Invents Act, the patent reform law that was signed by president Obama in October, 2011, was its effect on small businesses. Many worried that the first to file provisions of the new patent act would disadvantage small businesses by forcing them to [&hellip
Business Insider did a feature looking at the “The 20 Most Innovative Startups in Tech.” I became curious how many of these startups have IP assets, so I took a look at the USPTO assignment databases. Details are below
I received an e-mail this morning asking me what the job posting for a patent counsel on the Dropbox website means. Dropbox currently has no patents or published patent applications at the USPTO or at WIPO. The single patent that appears assigned to a Dropbox Inc at the USPTO assignment database is clearly a different [&hellip