By: Michael J Foycik Jr.
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
A design
Each “how to patent” subject is discussed in detail below. Here are ways to get a patent.
A design is anything which is not functional. A casing or cover for a working device can be a design. Other things can be designs too. A design can best be protected by a design patent application, and usually costs much less to file than a utility (“regular“) patent application. Even the government filing fee is much lower for a design patent application.
What is needed to get a design patent application? You will normally need drawings showing the design from six different orthogonal views. The application itself is very short, and has text naming the invention, describing the drawings, and ending with a claim. The drawings do not need to be like blueprints; instead, they are simplified. And, it is not necessary to have a working model.
Once filed with the US Patent Office, the design application is examined, and if granted, can mature into a design patent. But why get a design patent? For one thing, a design patent protects not only the design itself, but all obvious variations that are not within the public domain already.
By contrast, a copyright only covers copies made, which must be exact copies. And, a copyright does not cover any design, even if identical, which was not copied. So, if two inventors both make the same exact design by sheer chance, and one inventor gets a copyright, that copyright would not be usable against the other inventor. The reason is, a copyright only covers copying.
A design patent covers any design that is sufficiently close so as to infringe, even if there was no copying. A design patent is therefore valuable, yet different from a copyright.
Before getting into the details, we would like to mention that there is also something called a “provisional patent application” discussed hereunder. It gives patent pending status for one year, permitting a utility patent application to be filed at any time during that year. That is another way to get a patent. The provisional application is much less expensive than a utility patent application, and can be recommended when there is an urgent need to get a patent application on file with the US Patent Office. For example, just prior to a trade show or publication of the invention, there is an urgent need to have the idea on file with the US Patent Office. For further information, see the section below called “How to patent using a provisional patent application.”
Standard text is then added including sections titled: background of the invention; summary of the invention; brief description of the drawings; and an abstract of the disclosure. These are not usually hard to do for a design patent application.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/How-to-Patent-a-Design.html
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
What You Should Know about Intellectual Property
By: Steve Cartwright
Modern technology has made it so much easier to get your materials out there. You can share ideas and pictures with the whole world and use it to make money. But just as it’s easier to share, it’s also easier to steal. That’s why it’s important to know the laws and protect yourself.
Before we talk about the laws behind intellectual property, we should probably talk about what intellectual property is. Intellectual property is anything that comes out of your head, whether it be an idea, writing, art, or a picture.
Just because someone can reproduce what you make doesn’t mean it’s legal for them to do so. Intellectual property can usually be divided into four categories: patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.
While you’re likely heard all these terms, here’s a quick breakdown of exactly what they mean.
> Copyright. This protects items that are produced by the imagination, but are tangible, like books and songs. To be protected, you must apply for a copyright, which requires you to fill out forms, pay a fee, and provide a copy.
A current copyright lasts 78 years after the author’s death. This is how families still make money off of their relatives after they pass away. Courts can impose severe financial penalties if a copyright is violated.
> Trademark. This protects names and logos that identify a specific brand. They keep people from getting confused between two products. While many things can be trademarked, general terms and images cannot. You can apply for local trademark protection through your state, but you can get better protection federally.
> Patent. These are used to protect inventions and processes that someone creates. The idea is that they reveal how to make the product, and the government prevents other people from making it in exchange. A patent lasts generally 20 years, but can also take a long time to get one. The application process is more extensive than the others and should include a detailed description of how to make the item. A patent also gives you the ability to sell the right to produce the item you’ve patented.
> Trade Secrets. These are things a business uses that it needs to keep secret in order to succeed. It might be a secret recipe or how a product is made. Whether or not something can be protected as a trade secret is decided in court and is based on a variety of factors, but most importantly, whether something is public knowledge or not. There isn’t a time limit to this kind of protection, but it can be voided if information is revealed to others.
Just because something fits into one category, doesn’t mean it can’t fit into another. They often overlap, which can make it more difficult to protect yourself.
Just because a law exists, doesn’t mean that there won’t be people out there who will not break them. Unfortunately, the lines can get even more blurred when your business is online. Knowing your rights is the first step and then taking appropriate measures to protect your content will lead you in the right direction.
Sunday, January 27, 2019
How to Patent a Program
By: Michael J Foycik Jr.
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
A program
Each “how to patent” subject is discussed in detail below. Here are ways to get a patent. A computer program can be copyrighted, but it can also often be patented. The types of protection are very different. Specifically, the inventive steps of the program can be patented, and because of this the patent can provide protection far beyond just the specific program language used.
First, a drawing is made showing the most important steps of the program as a flowchart diagram. It is usually not necessary to give every detail of the operation of the program; instead, the main features should be illustrated. The program should be protected by a utility patent application, since that will cover any type of program language. This is also sometimes called a “regular” patent application. The program steps can be explained in words and by the flowchart drawings. The drawings do not need to be like blueprints. And, it is not necessary to have a working program, as long as the steps could be followed by a skilled programmer.
This is a good point to mention that there is also something called a “provisional patent application” that gives patent pending status for one year, permitting a utility patent application to be filed at any time during that year. This is much less expensive, and is recommended when there is an urgent need to get something one file, for example just prior to a trade show or publication. Further below, there is a section called “How to patent using a provisional patent application.”
Here's a simple example showing how to patent an idea for a simple and amusing invention, where a computer program is used. The program determines sequential prime numbers and activates a light for a time corresponding to the prime number. Here, the blinking light is connected to a pencil eraser. For the moment, we aren't concerned with whether it has been done before, it is just an example. For now, the idea would be expressed in words, written just as above. Let's say the steps are: determine prime numbers in sequence from 1; wait until that number of seconds has elapsed; then blink the light ON for a number of seconds equal to the value of the prime number that has been reached. These steps would be shown in a simple flowchart. And, since it is possible to illustrate the idea in a drawing, we would also add a sketch showing where the light should be placed on the eraser. What else should be shown? The light should have a power source, for example a small solar panel or a small battery, and connecting wires should be shown connecting the power source to the light.
Next, a claim is added to describe the invention broadly, such as the following: Claim 1: A method for activating a light such that the light indicates the value of a determined number, comprising the steps of: the step of determining a sequential prime number from a starting value; the step of waiting a number of seconds corresponding to the determined prime number; the step of blinking the light ON for a number of seconds equal to the value of the determined prime number in the preceding step; replacing the starting value with the determined prime number; and returning to the first step above.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/How-to-Patent-a-Program.html
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
A program
Each “how to patent” subject is discussed in detail below. Here are ways to get a patent. A computer program can be copyrighted, but it can also often be patented. The types of protection are very different. Specifically, the inventive steps of the program can be patented, and because of this the patent can provide protection far beyond just the specific program language used.
First, a drawing is made showing the most important steps of the program as a flowchart diagram. It is usually not necessary to give every detail of the operation of the program; instead, the main features should be illustrated. The program should be protected by a utility patent application, since that will cover any type of program language. This is also sometimes called a “regular” patent application. The program steps can be explained in words and by the flowchart drawings. The drawings do not need to be like blueprints. And, it is not necessary to have a working program, as long as the steps could be followed by a skilled programmer.
This is a good point to mention that there is also something called a “provisional patent application” that gives patent pending status for one year, permitting a utility patent application to be filed at any time during that year. This is much less expensive, and is recommended when there is an urgent need to get something one file, for example just prior to a trade show or publication. Further below, there is a section called “How to patent using a provisional patent application.”
Here's a simple example showing how to patent an idea for a simple and amusing invention, where a computer program is used. The program determines sequential prime numbers and activates a light for a time corresponding to the prime number. Here, the blinking light is connected to a pencil eraser. For the moment, we aren't concerned with whether it has been done before, it is just an example. For now, the idea would be expressed in words, written just as above. Let's say the steps are: determine prime numbers in sequence from 1; wait until that number of seconds has elapsed; then blink the light ON for a number of seconds equal to the value of the prime number that has been reached. These steps would be shown in a simple flowchart. And, since it is possible to illustrate the idea in a drawing, we would also add a sketch showing where the light should be placed on the eraser. What else should be shown? The light should have a power source, for example a small solar panel or a small battery, and connecting wires should be shown connecting the power source to the light.
Next, a claim is added to describe the invention broadly, such as the following: Claim 1: A method for activating a light such that the light indicates the value of a determined number, comprising the steps of: the step of determining a sequential prime number from a starting value; the step of waiting a number of seconds corresponding to the determined prime number; the step of blinking the light ON for a number of seconds equal to the value of the determined prime number in the preceding step; replacing the starting value with the determined prime number; and returning to the first step above.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/How-to-Patent-a-Program.html
Saturday, January 26, 2019
IDENTITYMIND AWARDED NEW PATENT FOR USING SOCIAL NETWORKS ANALYSIS TO DELIVER HIGHER ACCURACY ON SANCTIONS AND PEP SCREENING
By: Jose Caldera
IdentityMind, Digital Identities You Can Trust, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted IdentityMind a patent for enhanced sanctions screening using digital identities and social media. The patent describes the integration of social networks and media analysis into IdentityMind’s core Electronic DNA™ Digital Identities technology as a way to improve the effectiveness of sanctions screening. This new patent continues to consolidate IdentityMind’s innovation leadership around the definition and use of digital identities for the protection of financial transactions.
The technology described within Patent No. 10,187,369 is already part of IdentityMind’s Platform and is offered: 1) as an independent service; 2) in conjunction with Know Your Customer (KYC) and online onboarding services, and 3) as part of real-time transaction monitoring for anti-money laundering (AML) and fraud. IdentityMind’s Sanctions Screening capabilities are currently in use by hundreds of companies worldwide.
“Sanctions and PEP (Politically Exposed People) Screening is a fundamental process in the fight against financing of terrorism, human trafficking, corruption, and fraud,” said Kieran Sherlock, CTO, IdentityMind. “Compliance teams spend a great deal of resources in dealing with the results of this process. Not doing proper sanctions and PEP screening can yield hefty fines from regulators, and worse, bad people can get through the financial system. The focus of our innovation is to help analysts more accurately detect potential bad actors. Our clients today experience a match rate between 0.7% and 1%, way below industry standards.”
The patent expands on the use of an individual’s digital identifiers to uncover relationships through social media with sanctioned groups, sanctioned states, and PEPs. The IdentityMind platform leverages its Electronic DNA™ database to further qualify the matches in order to provide operational efficiencies in the process.
“Current sanctions and PEP screening vendors are limited to the information provided in sanctions and PEP lists,” continued Sherlock, “But those lists do not contain digital information about the individuals or businesses that can provide an additional view into the connects between seemingly benign actors and nefarious actors. This patent provides an expanded view of the risk posed by the entity on the other end of the transaction, and a more complete view into the risk that they pose.”
Last November, the Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC), added cryptocurrency addresses to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. The IdentityMind platform was ready to protect its clients based on a previous patent (Patent N.O. 9,852,427) awarded last year by USPTO. There is much work to be done in this field, and IdentityMind will continue to innovate to give businesses the upper hand.
Read more >> https://identitymindglobal.com/press-release/identitymind-new-patent-for-social-network-analysis-higher-accuracy-sanctions-pep-screening/
IdentityMind, Digital Identities You Can Trust, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted IdentityMind a patent for enhanced sanctions screening using digital identities and social media. The patent describes the integration of social networks and media analysis into IdentityMind’s core Electronic DNA™ Digital Identities technology as a way to improve the effectiveness of sanctions screening. This new patent continues to consolidate IdentityMind’s innovation leadership around the definition and use of digital identities for the protection of financial transactions.
The technology described within Patent No. 10,187,369 is already part of IdentityMind’s Platform and is offered: 1) as an independent service; 2) in conjunction with Know Your Customer (KYC) and online onboarding services, and 3) as part of real-time transaction monitoring for anti-money laundering (AML) and fraud. IdentityMind’s Sanctions Screening capabilities are currently in use by hundreds of companies worldwide.
“Sanctions and PEP (Politically Exposed People) Screening is a fundamental process in the fight against financing of terrorism, human trafficking, corruption, and fraud,” said Kieran Sherlock, CTO, IdentityMind. “Compliance teams spend a great deal of resources in dealing with the results of this process. Not doing proper sanctions and PEP screening can yield hefty fines from regulators, and worse, bad people can get through the financial system. The focus of our innovation is to help analysts more accurately detect potential bad actors. Our clients today experience a match rate between 0.7% and 1%, way below industry standards.”
The patent expands on the use of an individual’s digital identifiers to uncover relationships through social media with sanctioned groups, sanctioned states, and PEPs. The IdentityMind platform leverages its Electronic DNA™ database to further qualify the matches in order to provide operational efficiencies in the process.
“Current sanctions and PEP screening vendors are limited to the information provided in sanctions and PEP lists,” continued Sherlock, “But those lists do not contain digital information about the individuals or businesses that can provide an additional view into the connects between seemingly benign actors and nefarious actors. This patent provides an expanded view of the risk posed by the entity on the other end of the transaction, and a more complete view into the risk that they pose.”
Last November, the Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC), added cryptocurrency addresses to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. The IdentityMind platform was ready to protect its clients based on a previous patent (Patent N.O. 9,852,427) awarded last year by USPTO. There is much work to be done in this field, and IdentityMind will continue to innovate to give businesses the upper hand.
Read more >> https://identitymindglobal.com/press-release/identitymind-new-patent-for-social-network-analysis-higher-accuracy-sanctions-pep-screening/
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
How to Patent a Provisional Patent Application
By: Michael J Foycik Jr.
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
A provisional patent application
Each “how to patent” subject is discussed in detail below. Here are ways to get a patent.
A slightly better title would be “How to Get a Provisional Patent Application.“ That would be more correct, as explained below. It is easy to get a provisional patent application, which gives “patent pending” status but cannot in itself be “patented.” Instead, a provisional patent application holds the date (as the date of filing), protects the owner against later copiers, and permits later filing of a utility (“regular”) patent application.
Why get a Provisional Patent Application? It is less costly, and has a lower government filing fee, as compared with a utility patent application. It takes less effort to prepare, and needs no formal drawings and no signed Declaration.
Anything can be the subject of a provisional patent application. It provides defensive protection against later imitators. And, it can be the basis of a later utility patent application. It’s very useful to get a provisional patent application!
So what's the catch? The catch is, the provisional patent application lasts for only one year, after which the idea belongs to the public unless a utility patent application has been filed during that year.
So why file a Provisional Patent Application? If you are publishing the invention or showing it to potential investors or distributors or at a trade show, then a Provisional Patent Application will secure the date of filing, and can protect you against later imitators. How can it protect? It would prevent a competitor from copying your idea and patenting it themselves, then using the patent against you. Yes, that really happens sometimes! And, if the provisional application is followed up within one year by a utility patent application that issues as a patent, then it would allow you to seek damages in court.
Do you need to wait for a patent to issue before commercializing your invention? No, not at all! In fact, a pending patent application can be even more valuable than an issued patent in some cases, and a pending provisional patent application can be sold, assigned, or licensed.
What do you need to get a provisional patent application? You need a written description of the idea. And, it is helpful to provide drawings or sketches of the idea or invention, preferably with numbers that can be referred to in the body of the written description. The drawings do not need to be like blueprints; they can be simple or very rough, as long as they can be understood in connection with the text in the provisional patent application. And, it is not necessary to have a working model.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/How-to-Patent-a-Provisional-Patent-Application.html
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
A provisional patent application
Each “how to patent” subject is discussed in detail below. Here are ways to get a patent.
A slightly better title would be “How to Get a Provisional Patent Application.“ That would be more correct, as explained below. It is easy to get a provisional patent application, which gives “patent pending” status but cannot in itself be “patented.” Instead, a provisional patent application holds the date (as the date of filing), protects the owner against later copiers, and permits later filing of a utility (“regular”) patent application.
Why get a Provisional Patent Application? It is less costly, and has a lower government filing fee, as compared with a utility patent application. It takes less effort to prepare, and needs no formal drawings and no signed Declaration.
Anything can be the subject of a provisional patent application. It provides defensive protection against later imitators. And, it can be the basis of a later utility patent application. It’s very useful to get a provisional patent application!
So what's the catch? The catch is, the provisional patent application lasts for only one year, after which the idea belongs to the public unless a utility patent application has been filed during that year.
So why file a Provisional Patent Application? If you are publishing the invention or showing it to potential investors or distributors or at a trade show, then a Provisional Patent Application will secure the date of filing, and can protect you against later imitators. How can it protect? It would prevent a competitor from copying your idea and patenting it themselves, then using the patent against you. Yes, that really happens sometimes! And, if the provisional application is followed up within one year by a utility patent application that issues as a patent, then it would allow you to seek damages in court.
Do you need to wait for a patent to issue before commercializing your invention? No, not at all! In fact, a pending patent application can be even more valuable than an issued patent in some cases, and a pending provisional patent application can be sold, assigned, or licensed.
What do you need to get a provisional patent application? You need a written description of the idea. And, it is helpful to provide drawings or sketches of the idea or invention, preferably with numbers that can be referred to in the body of the written description. The drawings do not need to be like blueprints; they can be simple or very rough, as long as they can be understood in connection with the text in the provisional patent application. And, it is not necessary to have a working model.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/How-to-Patent-a-Provisional-Patent-Application.html
Attorneys give advice on protecting intellectual property
By: Brad Rhen
There are many costs associated with running a business. Things such as payroll, insurance, supplies and rent can can leave little room for profit.
One sometimes overlooked cost is protecting the things that a company creates: its intellectual property.
Small and new companies often overlook safeguarding their intellectual property, while established companies take it seriously, said Salvatore Anastasi, partner and chair of the Intellectual Property Practice Group at Barley Snyder in Malvern. Usually, he said, most of the money at startups goes back into growing the company.
That can be problematic.
“We often find companies that as they grow and bump into their competition they find themselves being sued for patent infringement or some other type of intellectual property infringement,” Anastasi said. “So sometimes they learn the hard way, but it's sort of an evolutionary thing that as a company grows, they must have a portfolio of intellectual property protection to remain competitive.”
Four main protections
Intellectual property can refer to a variety of things that are the result of creativity, such as an invention, a manuscript, a design, a work of art or a song. Unlike tangible assets like vehicles, computers or desks, it sometimes can be difficult to prove ownership of intellectual property because it is a collection of ideas and concepts.
There are four main ways to protect intellectual property in the United States: patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. A patent applies to a specific product design or invention; a trademark to a name, phrase or symbol; a copyright to a written document; and a trade secret to something developed by a business to give them a competitive advantage.
“Intellectual property, generally speaking, means anything that a business owner considers to be a valuable asset of the business, but which is not tangible, not something that one cannot touch or measure very easily,” said George Balchunas, a business and transactional lawyer at Kozloff Stout Attorneys, Spring Township. “It can include the business's reputation, its lists of customers or vendors, and its name or the names of products that it markets and sells.
Read more >> https://www.readingeagle.com/business-weekly/article/attorneys-give-advice-on-protecting-intellectual-property
There are many costs associated with running a business. Things such as payroll, insurance, supplies and rent can can leave little room for profit.
One sometimes overlooked cost is protecting the things that a company creates: its intellectual property.
Small and new companies often overlook safeguarding their intellectual property, while established companies take it seriously, said Salvatore Anastasi, partner and chair of the Intellectual Property Practice Group at Barley Snyder in Malvern. Usually, he said, most of the money at startups goes back into growing the company.
That can be problematic.
“We often find companies that as they grow and bump into their competition they find themselves being sued for patent infringement or some other type of intellectual property infringement,” Anastasi said. “So sometimes they learn the hard way, but it's sort of an evolutionary thing that as a company grows, they must have a portfolio of intellectual property protection to remain competitive.”
Four main protections
Intellectual property can refer to a variety of things that are the result of creativity, such as an invention, a manuscript, a design, a work of art or a song. Unlike tangible assets like vehicles, computers or desks, it sometimes can be difficult to prove ownership of intellectual property because it is a collection of ideas and concepts.
There are four main ways to protect intellectual property in the United States: patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. A patent applies to a specific product design or invention; a trademark to a name, phrase or symbol; a copyright to a written document; and a trade secret to something developed by a business to give them a competitive advantage.
“Intellectual property, generally speaking, means anything that a business owner considers to be a valuable asset of the business, but which is not tangible, not something that one cannot touch or measure very easily,” said George Balchunas, a business and transactional lawyer at Kozloff Stout Attorneys, Spring Township. “It can include the business's reputation, its lists of customers or vendors, and its name or the names of products that it markets and sells.
Read more >> https://www.readingeagle.com/business-weekly/article/attorneys-give-advice-on-protecting-intellectual-property
Sunday, January 20, 2019
A New Startup Business: What Is Needed For Success
By: Michael J Foycik Jr.
June 22, 2016
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
So you're starting a new business, congratulations! The sky's the limit. If your new startup business is based on a new idea, a new concept, or a new invention, then you'll need something first.
What will you need for success? At least one thing: something unique that you own. The key word here is “own” and that includes intellectual property: patent rights, trademark rights, copyright rights, and trade secret rights. Otherwise, your initial success can be copied or taken by anyone.
You should have a pending application of some type. That is, unless you already have an issued patent or a registered trademark, though a startup is unlikely to have either one. What you can have is a pending application: a pending patent application, a pending trademark application, or both. For some businesses, a copyright application is needed instead of, or in addition to, a patent application.
A pending application documents ownership, as of the filing date. For patent applications, the law now is first-to-file. If you wait to file a patent application, anyone can take your idea and file on it. So be the first! If you are first, then your rights are documented by the filing of the application.
Costs can be kept fairly low on the patent side by filing a provisional patent application (PPA), which gives true patent pending rights for one year, which can give priority rights for any later filed utility patent application. The PPA also documents trade secret rights when the subject matter is kept confidential, and such rights can be valuable.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/A-New-Startup-Business.html
June 22, 2016
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
So you're starting a new business, congratulations! The sky's the limit. If your new startup business is based on a new idea, a new concept, or a new invention, then you'll need something first.
What will you need for success? At least one thing: something unique that you own. The key word here is “own” and that includes intellectual property: patent rights, trademark rights, copyright rights, and trade secret rights. Otherwise, your initial success can be copied or taken by anyone.
You should have a pending application of some type. That is, unless you already have an issued patent or a registered trademark, though a startup is unlikely to have either one. What you can have is a pending application: a pending patent application, a pending trademark application, or both. For some businesses, a copyright application is needed instead of, or in addition to, a patent application.
A pending application documents ownership, as of the filing date. For patent applications, the law now is first-to-file. If you wait to file a patent application, anyone can take your idea and file on it. So be the first! If you are first, then your rights are documented by the filing of the application.
Costs can be kept fairly low on the patent side by filing a provisional patent application (PPA), which gives true patent pending rights for one year, which can give priority rights for any later filed utility patent application. The PPA also documents trade secret rights when the subject matter is kept confidential, and such rights can be valuable.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/A-New-Startup-Business.html
Saturday, January 19, 2019
7 things that are killing your startup
By: SCOTT OMELIANUK
“Time for a poll,” I say, standing at the front of the classroom. “How many of you think you’ll go to work in corporate America?” More than a dozen hands shoot up. And then, I ask, “Entrepreneurs? Who is going to start their own business?”
One day a week, I step away from a consulting practice working with startups and companies in transition to lead a class in the business school at what U.S. News & World Report has named a Top 25 Innovation University. Despite its relatively small size, Stevens Institute of Technology ranks No. 14 on the list of patents granted to alumni. Its students—electrical and computer engineers, majors in quantitative finance—are, you know, smart.
And so in the classroom this day, in answer to my second question, only three or four confident hands rise. Despite the constant stream of blogs lauding Silicon Valley and celebrating young billionaires and glorifying what’s been called “startup porn” (something that curiously features very few women—more on that later), America’s best and brightest are, it seems, loathe to jump into entrepreneurship.
In fact, American entrepreneurialism, as tracked by the Census Bureau and other indexes, is in steep decline. That’s alarming, given how much our economy depends on the small and midsized businesses (SMBs) that startups become when they go from crawling to walking to running. SMBs are where the U.S.’s world-leading spirit of innovation develops, and it is where job creation happens. In fact, as legacy companies periodically shed businesses and employees (hello, GE; hiya, GM), startups may be the most dependable source of net, quality job creation.
In class or on the job, almost every day I bump up against seven things blocking entrepreneurship. Seven things that, sadly, we are responsible for—in our failure to ignore economic imbalance, our pursuit not just of returns but ever bigger returns, our belief in a business philosophy based in gender and other biases. Of course, given that responsibility, it’s fixable, if we’re so inclined.
STUDENT DEBT
For gen-Z, like those in my classroom, or those just out of school, the spiraling cost of a college education limits possibility. As I said, these kids are smart, and being smart, they can calculate how hard it’s going to be to pay off the average student loan debt of $37,000 and continue to eat and purchase pants just by rewriting code, business plans, and pitch decks with former classmates in a shared apartment while hoping they can create the next Snapchat.
MILLENNIALS
A lightning rod for all ills, most imagined, but in this case, statistics prove that 22- to 35-year-olds are becoming entrepreneurs at a lesser rate than any prior generation, with about one-quarter the number of self-starters as compared to gen-X or baby boomers. But then how much risk tolerance should we expect from a generation that grew up being told life came with certain guarantees? That the right internship or right school or right GPA, or just simply hard work, was all they needed to succeed in the world? In reality, the only certain thing about startups is a failure rate of 90% (and more like 98% if you’re in health tech). So it’s not surprising that a group unaccustomed to failure would be the near opposite of those who grew up in more precarious times—like my father-in-law’s father, a Depression child “only-in-America” character, who worked as a press agent, produced a TV game show, owned a forerunner to schools like Apex Tech, and even, briefly, an international airline. The risk of failure wasn’t a deterrent for him.
Read more >> https://www.fastcompany.com/90282990/the-7-greatest-impediments-to-american-entrepreneurs
“Time for a poll,” I say, standing at the front of the classroom. “How many of you think you’ll go to work in corporate America?” More than a dozen hands shoot up. And then, I ask, “Entrepreneurs? Who is going to start their own business?”
One day a week, I step away from a consulting practice working with startups and companies in transition to lead a class in the business school at what U.S. News & World Report has named a Top 25 Innovation University. Despite its relatively small size, Stevens Institute of Technology ranks No. 14 on the list of patents granted to alumni. Its students—electrical and computer engineers, majors in quantitative finance—are, you know, smart.
And so in the classroom this day, in answer to my second question, only three or four confident hands rise. Despite the constant stream of blogs lauding Silicon Valley and celebrating young billionaires and glorifying what’s been called “startup porn” (something that curiously features very few women—more on that later), America’s best and brightest are, it seems, loathe to jump into entrepreneurship.
In fact, American entrepreneurialism, as tracked by the Census Bureau and other indexes, is in steep decline. That’s alarming, given how much our economy depends on the small and midsized businesses (SMBs) that startups become when they go from crawling to walking to running. SMBs are where the U.S.’s world-leading spirit of innovation develops, and it is where job creation happens. In fact, as legacy companies periodically shed businesses and employees (hello, GE; hiya, GM), startups may be the most dependable source of net, quality job creation.
In class or on the job, almost every day I bump up against seven things blocking entrepreneurship. Seven things that, sadly, we are responsible for—in our failure to ignore economic imbalance, our pursuit not just of returns but ever bigger returns, our belief in a business philosophy based in gender and other biases. Of course, given that responsibility, it’s fixable, if we’re so inclined.
STUDENT DEBT
For gen-Z, like those in my classroom, or those just out of school, the spiraling cost of a college education limits possibility. As I said, these kids are smart, and being smart, they can calculate how hard it’s going to be to pay off the average student loan debt of $37,000 and continue to eat and purchase pants just by rewriting code, business plans, and pitch decks with former classmates in a shared apartment while hoping they can create the next Snapchat.
MILLENNIALS
A lightning rod for all ills, most imagined, but in this case, statistics prove that 22- to 35-year-olds are becoming entrepreneurs at a lesser rate than any prior generation, with about one-quarter the number of self-starters as compared to gen-X or baby boomers. But then how much risk tolerance should we expect from a generation that grew up being told life came with certain guarantees? That the right internship or right school or right GPA, or just simply hard work, was all they needed to succeed in the world? In reality, the only certain thing about startups is a failure rate of 90% (and more like 98% if you’re in health tech). So it’s not surprising that a group unaccustomed to failure would be the near opposite of those who grew up in more precarious times—like my father-in-law’s father, a Depression child “only-in-America” character, who worked as a press agent, produced a TV game show, owned a forerunner to schools like Apex Tech, and even, briefly, an international airline. The risk of failure wasn’t a deterrent for him.
Read more >> https://www.fastcompany.com/90282990/the-7-greatest-impediments-to-american-entrepreneurs
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Startup Business: A Checklist
By: Michael J Foycik Jr.
June 22, 2016
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
Starting a new business is exciting! Here's a checklist you'll want to consider.
> Trademark application or registered trademark. Everyone needs this.
> Pending patent application of any type: design, utility, or provisional (PPA).
> Funding, which can include crowd funding services like Kickstarter or Indiegogo.
> Copyright rights. This includes your web site and promotional materials.
> Publicity, if using crowd funding sites or if needed to attract investors.
Costs can be fairly low. Some informal rights are permitted, and every startup is different. Contact me with any questions at the email address below.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/Startup-Business.html
June 22, 2016
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
Starting a new business is exciting! Here's a checklist you'll want to consider.
> Trademark application or registered trademark. Everyone needs this.
> Pending patent application of any type: design, utility, or provisional (PPA).
> Funding, which can include crowd funding services like Kickstarter or Indiegogo.
> Copyright rights. This includes your web site and promotional materials.
> Publicity, if using crowd funding sites or if needed to attract investors.
Costs can be fairly low. Some informal rights are permitted, and every startup is different. Contact me with any questions at the email address below.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/Startup-Business.html
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
The 7 Lessons That Proptech Startups Can Learn From Biotech
By: Angelica Krystle Donati
Happy New Year, Forbes readers! For this first column of 2019, I decided to do something a bit different to the articles that I typically write.
Last night, I attended a presentation in Rome (which is where I'm based half of the time), hosted by LUISS university and Confindustria Young Entrepreneurs , by esteemed MIT professor Robert Langer. For those of you who, like myself until a short while ago, had never heard of Professor Langer, he runs the largest biomedical engineering lab in the world, holds the world record for number of patents (over 1350 between those granted and pending) and is the among the 7 most cited individuals in history.
You may be wondering why I'm writing about a chemical engineer in a PropTech column. The reason is this. In the course of his career spanning over four decades, Professor Langer has founded over 40 startups in his field, only one of which is no longer operational. Of the majority that survived, several have been very successful, with record breaking IPOs and multi billion dollar industry exits. The title of his presentation was "what I've learned from founding more than 40 startups", so I decided to see how (if!) these lessons from biotech can translate to PropTech.
Professor Langer gave us several "science lessons" for a nascent biotech startup. I'm going to try to formulate the PropTech equivalent for the ones I think our sector's startups can learn from.
Build a platform technology you can use for many things. The professor meant this in reference, for example, to the areosol drug delivery system he developed with his company AIR which can be used for a host of drugs, including recent experiments with anti-Parkinsons drugs. This translates quite obviously into PropTech. Though you may, and probably should, start by focusing on a single problem, the scalability of your solution goes hand in hand with the scalability of your buisiness. Several examples come to mind, one being Google's recent investment into AI maintenance chatbot AskPorter, on the premise that their tech can be scaled for use across all steps of the lettings life cycle and is not limited by its current maintenance functionality.
Make sure your results are published with a paper in one of the top journals. In other words… GET MARKET VALIDATION. I was just on a call with a startup and the investor leading the round it just closed (watch this space!), and one of the top drivers for the investment taking place was that the investor was able to get validation on the product's value add by the startup's initial clients who are well respected in the industry. I know getting big-name anchor clients is easy to say and hard to do, but it is crucial in establishing B2B market success. You are probably better off focusing on the big fish and letting the smaller fish swim away for now. In the B2C space, this translates into getting your marketing in early. You should aim to have a user base ready, thanks to intelligent marketing campaigns (and I don't mean Tube ads) before you launch, so that at launch you can jump straight into testing and scaling the product.
Read more >> https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelicakrystledonati/2019/01/10/the-7-lessons-that-proptech-startups-can-learn-from-biotech/#467d909d68fb
Happy New Year, Forbes readers! For this first column of 2019, I decided to do something a bit different to the articles that I typically write.
Last night, I attended a presentation in Rome (which is where I'm based half of the time), hosted by LUISS university and Confindustria Young Entrepreneurs , by esteemed MIT professor Robert Langer. For those of you who, like myself until a short while ago, had never heard of Professor Langer, he runs the largest biomedical engineering lab in the world, holds the world record for number of patents (over 1350 between those granted and pending) and is the among the 7 most cited individuals in history.
You may be wondering why I'm writing about a chemical engineer in a PropTech column. The reason is this. In the course of his career spanning over four decades, Professor Langer has founded over 40 startups in his field, only one of which is no longer operational. Of the majority that survived, several have been very successful, with record breaking IPOs and multi billion dollar industry exits. The title of his presentation was "what I've learned from founding more than 40 startups", so I decided to see how (if!) these lessons from biotech can translate to PropTech.
Professor Langer gave us several "science lessons" for a nascent biotech startup. I'm going to try to formulate the PropTech equivalent for the ones I think our sector's startups can learn from.
Build a platform technology you can use for many things. The professor meant this in reference, for example, to the areosol drug delivery system he developed with his company AIR which can be used for a host of drugs, including recent experiments with anti-Parkinsons drugs. This translates quite obviously into PropTech. Though you may, and probably should, start by focusing on a single problem, the scalability of your solution goes hand in hand with the scalability of your buisiness. Several examples come to mind, one being Google's recent investment into AI maintenance chatbot AskPorter, on the premise that their tech can be scaled for use across all steps of the lettings life cycle and is not limited by its current maintenance functionality.
Make sure your results are published with a paper in one of the top journals. In other words… GET MARKET VALIDATION. I was just on a call with a startup and the investor leading the round it just closed (watch this space!), and one of the top drivers for the investment taking place was that the investor was able to get validation on the product's value add by the startup's initial clients who are well respected in the industry. I know getting big-name anchor clients is easy to say and hard to do, but it is crucial in establishing B2B market success. You are probably better off focusing on the big fish and letting the smaller fish swim away for now. In the B2C space, this translates into getting your marketing in early. You should aim to have a user base ready, thanks to intelligent marketing campaigns (and I don't mean Tube ads) before you launch, so that at launch you can jump straight into testing and scaling the product.
Read more >> https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelicakrystledonati/2019/01/10/the-7-lessons-that-proptech-startups-can-learn-from-biotech/#467d909d68fb
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Some Indiegogo Success Tips
By: Michael J Foycik Jr.
August 6, 2014
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
If you're planning an Indiegogo campaign or other enterprise funding site, then these tips may help.
Have IP protection. What's that? It is intellectual property. It is not necessary to have an issued patent, but for success raising capital it is important to have at least patent pending protection. Trademark protection can help too. Don't neglect copyright protection and trade secret protection, if those are appropriate for your enterprise.
Get publicity. Use an inexpensive service that does e-press releases. Such a service can even help you write the press releases, for a small additional fee. And, try giving interviews to journals and magazines that might review your product or service.
Line up your tech resources ahead of time, to list on the site. These services would include affordable software technical services. Your product will need technical support services, so it may be a good idea to list such a company on your site. Other software services are important, as you're well aware already: sales support software, inventory management software, and employee management software, among others.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/Some-Indiegogo-Success-Tips.html
August 6, 2014
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
If you're planning an Indiegogo campaign or other enterprise funding site, then these tips may help.
Have IP protection. What's that? It is intellectual property. It is not necessary to have an issued patent, but for success raising capital it is important to have at least patent pending protection. Trademark protection can help too. Don't neglect copyright protection and trade secret protection, if those are appropriate for your enterprise.
Get publicity. Use an inexpensive service that does e-press releases. Such a service can even help you write the press releases, for a small additional fee. And, try giving interviews to journals and magazines that might review your product or service.
Line up your tech resources ahead of time, to list on the site. These services would include affordable software technical services. Your product will need technical support services, so it may be a good idea to list such a company on your site. Other software services are important, as you're well aware already: sales support software, inventory management software, and employee management software, among others.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/Some-Indiegogo-Success-Tips.html
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Using Your Intellectual Property to Escape the 9-to-5
By: Carel Smit
If you're reading this article, then I assume you're sick of the 9-to-5, you've read The 4-Hour Work Week, and you're planning your escape from the cubicle. You've gone to every startup seminar and information session, dreamed up a slick-sounding name, read The Secret (in case you need it) and stuck some of Richard Branson's inspirational quotes on the wall behind your computer.
Related: 3 Ways to Slay the Risk of Bringing a New Product to Market
But, you're still not sure about one thing: What is that crucial first step when starting up?
In my experience, the thing stopping you from launching your product is that you're most likely scared to tell someone about your idea, thinking that it's going to get stolen, corrupted or plagiarized by every Tom, Dick and Sally. Or, you're worried that you're re-inventing the wheel, which is not only mildly embarrassing, but costly.
I know the feeling; I've lived though it myself as an entrepreneur, and I've seen it play out in the excitement that I dealt with in a previous life as a patent lawyer working with startup clients. But, here's the deal -- your own paranoia could be keeping you in that cubicle. Fortunately, there's a way to get over this while also setting your new venture up for success.
The field of idea protection, loosely termed intellectual property (IP), isn't just for gadgets any longer -- it's now a mainstay of how business is done and the sooner you come to realize that, the sooner you can create your own enterprise that uses these IP rights optimally to protect, launch and profit from your ideas.
These IP rights are typically patents for technical inventions (called "utility patents" in the U.S.), trademarks for brands, copyright for artistic creations and design patents for new industrial designs.
Related: What Are They? Domain Names, Business Entity Names, Trademarks.
So, how do you manage these conflicting agendas -- keeping your concept secret while disclosing it to a select few who also have the power to steal your idea from you? Even if you get past that stage, how do you then attract funders, position yourself as a market leader, while throwing shade and making your competitors look as fresh as last Thursday's burrito?
It's seldom that you can find a magic bullet that can hit all of these at once. But, the good news is that, if used and communicated in the right way, IP is a massively powerful business tool that can help you set up your business to not only hit those buttons but also help you create generational wealth.
Sara Blakely famously did this with her Spanx shape-forming undergarments. She'd crafted a rough prototype by cutting the toes off her usual stockings, and realized she had a winning idea. To protect her idea and make her product look more "technical," she filed a patent application for her concept, before securing the help of a manufacturer. This catalyzed her launch into Nordstrom and became the first steps toward building her multibillion-dollar enterprise.
So, what are the easiest ways for you to use your early stage IP to overcome your paranoia, position yourself in the market and set yourself up for success?
1. Using IP-based agreements
In the early days, before you even know how viable or defensible your idea is, you can tie in developers and collaborators with a confidentiality agreement to at least bounce the idea off them and see whether it is actually technically feasible. These agreements are never watertight and can't be enforced against someone that's come up with the same thing independently (that's what a patent is for), but at least they show that the intention was to keep the idea secret to preserve your patent rights.
If things go well, you can perhaps also get them to sign a development agreement that expressly states that not only the eventual product, but also the intellectual property residing in the idea, is to be made over ("assigned") to you or a company you might set up.
Read more >> https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/302701
If you're reading this article, then I assume you're sick of the 9-to-5, you've read The 4-Hour Work Week, and you're planning your escape from the cubicle. You've gone to every startup seminar and information session, dreamed up a slick-sounding name, read The Secret (in case you need it) and stuck some of Richard Branson's inspirational quotes on the wall behind your computer.
Related: 3 Ways to Slay the Risk of Bringing a New Product to Market
But, you're still not sure about one thing: What is that crucial first step when starting up?
In my experience, the thing stopping you from launching your product is that you're most likely scared to tell someone about your idea, thinking that it's going to get stolen, corrupted or plagiarized by every Tom, Dick and Sally. Or, you're worried that you're re-inventing the wheel, which is not only mildly embarrassing, but costly.
I know the feeling; I've lived though it myself as an entrepreneur, and I've seen it play out in the excitement that I dealt with in a previous life as a patent lawyer working with startup clients. But, here's the deal -- your own paranoia could be keeping you in that cubicle. Fortunately, there's a way to get over this while also setting your new venture up for success.
The field of idea protection, loosely termed intellectual property (IP), isn't just for gadgets any longer -- it's now a mainstay of how business is done and the sooner you come to realize that, the sooner you can create your own enterprise that uses these IP rights optimally to protect, launch and profit from your ideas.
These IP rights are typically patents for technical inventions (called "utility patents" in the U.S.), trademarks for brands, copyright for artistic creations and design patents for new industrial designs.
Related: What Are They? Domain Names, Business Entity Names, Trademarks.
So, how do you manage these conflicting agendas -- keeping your concept secret while disclosing it to a select few who also have the power to steal your idea from you? Even if you get past that stage, how do you then attract funders, position yourself as a market leader, while throwing shade and making your competitors look as fresh as last Thursday's burrito?
It's seldom that you can find a magic bullet that can hit all of these at once. But, the good news is that, if used and communicated in the right way, IP is a massively powerful business tool that can help you set up your business to not only hit those buttons but also help you create generational wealth.
Sara Blakely famously did this with her Spanx shape-forming undergarments. She'd crafted a rough prototype by cutting the toes off her usual stockings, and realized she had a winning idea. To protect her idea and make her product look more "technical," she filed a patent application for her concept, before securing the help of a manufacturer. This catalyzed her launch into Nordstrom and became the first steps toward building her multibillion-dollar enterprise.
So, what are the easiest ways for you to use your early stage IP to overcome your paranoia, position yourself in the market and set yourself up for success?
1. Using IP-based agreements
In the early days, before you even know how viable or defensible your idea is, you can tie in developers and collaborators with a confidentiality agreement to at least bounce the idea off them and see whether it is actually technically feasible. These agreements are never watertight and can't be enforced against someone that's come up with the same thing independently (that's what a patent is for), but at least they show that the intention was to keep the idea secret to preserve your patent rights.
If things go well, you can perhaps also get them to sign a development agreement that expressly states that not only the eventual product, but also the intellectual property residing in the idea, is to be made over ("assigned") to you or a company you might set up.
Read more >> https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/302701
Monday, January 7, 2019
Unpatentable - No Problem! Tips To Protect Your Idea Anyway
By: Michael J Foycik Jr.
February 20, 2014
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
So your new idea might not be patentable. Don't let that stop you! Here's some tips on what to do when your invention is not patentable.
Tip one: mark everything “confidential” and protect it under trade secret law.
Tip two: anything can be a trade secret. It just depends on the person seeing it. If it's new to them, and it's marked confidential, then it's a trade secret.
Tip three: a trade secret is probably better than a patent when it comes to those you have direct contact with. This is helpful if the idea is misappropriated by a retailer, distributor, developer, investor, and anyone else who sees the idea through you.
Tip four: file a provisional patent application (“PPA”). It documents your trade secret, the date of filing, and the ownership. As a government record, it is evidence. Few things could be as good.
Tip five: mark your materials with a copyright symbol. It triggers at least some degree of copyright protection in many cases. This is done by use of the copyright symbol followed by the date and owner. Here's a made-up example: © 2014 ZYX Corp.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/Unpatentable-No-Problem-Tips-To-Protect-Your-Idea-Anyway.html
February 20, 2014
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
So your new idea might not be patentable. Don't let that stop you! Here's some tips on what to do when your invention is not patentable.
Tip one: mark everything “confidential” and protect it under trade secret law.
Tip two: anything can be a trade secret. It just depends on the person seeing it. If it's new to them, and it's marked confidential, then it's a trade secret.
Tip three: a trade secret is probably better than a patent when it comes to those you have direct contact with. This is helpful if the idea is misappropriated by a retailer, distributor, developer, investor, and anyone else who sees the idea through you.
Tip four: file a provisional patent application (“PPA”). It documents your trade secret, the date of filing, and the ownership. As a government record, it is evidence. Few things could be as good.
Tip five: mark your materials with a copyright symbol. It triggers at least some degree of copyright protection in many cases. This is done by use of the copyright symbol followed by the date and owner. Here's a made-up example: © 2014 ZYX Corp.
Read more >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/Unpatentable-No-Problem-Tips-To-Protect-Your-Idea-Anyway.html
Sunday, January 6, 2019
Is Your Intellectual Property Protected?
By: MICHAEL KAY
As an entrepreneur it’s important to understand the concept of intellectual theft – the act of using without permission, or stealing someone’s else intellectual property. Intellectual property (IP) can be defined as any new method, a commercial or any distinctive creation that has economic value, or any unique mark which can include a logo, symbol, or a name that is used for commercial practices.
This kind of property includes ideas that are protected by copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secret laws. Logos, poems, mechanical inventions, client lists, and other items can all be covered under intellectual property.
Intellectual property is protected by copyrights on creative pursuits for instance poems, photos, and music; trademarks for branded products or commercial marks; and patents for inventions. IP is protected under federal and state laws.
How to know when IP Theft has occurred
Intellectual property theft happens when an individual knowingly steals, takes, or misappropriates property that falls under the protection of laws around IP. For instance, in case someone copies a logo that belongs to another company with full knowledge that the logo belongs to someone else – this can be considered as IP theft. For it to qualify as IP theft, the IP normally has to be used without the owner’s consent.
Another classic example of intellectual property theft is when a restaurant employee steals a secret recipe of a particular item on the menu, and then goes ahead and uses the same recipe to cook food in another restaurant.
When you become a victim of IP theft
In case your IP is stolen or used without your permission, there are a number of paths that you can take:
Usually, the first step is to ask the individual who stole or is using the intellectual property without your permission to stop. It is possible that the individual committed the IP theft without intending to do so. In this particular case, they will immediately stop using your intellectual property or even agree to pay for it.
If you ask someone to stop using the work, and he/she fails to listen, you can take legal action. Even if you don’t intend to sue the individual who stole your IP, the threat of a lawsuit from a business litigation lawyer is generally motivation enough for someone to stop using your IP.
Why does IP theft occur?
IP theft is cheap, easy, and quick to commit. All that needs to happen for a thief to steal your IP is just to copy your product, idea or work. Usually, you might not even know your has been stolen. Since someone else has done all the heavy lifting, the thief benefits from your work without breaking a sweat.
It is possible that IP thieves will benefit financially from the theft. This profit loss can affect you deeper than just a simple theft. It is possible that the theft of their IP will result in damages to your business and reputation.
Read More >> http://yfsmagazine.com/2018/11/05/is-your-intellectual-property-protected/
As an entrepreneur it’s important to understand the concept of intellectual theft – the act of using without permission, or stealing someone’s else intellectual property. Intellectual property (IP) can be defined as any new method, a commercial or any distinctive creation that has economic value, or any unique mark which can include a logo, symbol, or a name that is used for commercial practices.
This kind of property includes ideas that are protected by copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secret laws. Logos, poems, mechanical inventions, client lists, and other items can all be covered under intellectual property.
Intellectual property is protected by copyrights on creative pursuits for instance poems, photos, and music; trademarks for branded products or commercial marks; and patents for inventions. IP is protected under federal and state laws.
How to know when IP Theft has occurred
Intellectual property theft happens when an individual knowingly steals, takes, or misappropriates property that falls under the protection of laws around IP. For instance, in case someone copies a logo that belongs to another company with full knowledge that the logo belongs to someone else – this can be considered as IP theft. For it to qualify as IP theft, the IP normally has to be used without the owner’s consent.
Another classic example of intellectual property theft is when a restaurant employee steals a secret recipe of a particular item on the menu, and then goes ahead and uses the same recipe to cook food in another restaurant.
When you become a victim of IP theft
In case your IP is stolen or used without your permission, there are a number of paths that you can take:
Usually, the first step is to ask the individual who stole or is using the intellectual property without your permission to stop. It is possible that the individual committed the IP theft without intending to do so. In this particular case, they will immediately stop using your intellectual property or even agree to pay for it.
If you ask someone to stop using the work, and he/she fails to listen, you can take legal action. Even if you don’t intend to sue the individual who stole your IP, the threat of a lawsuit from a business litigation lawyer is generally motivation enough for someone to stop using your IP.
Why does IP theft occur?
IP theft is cheap, easy, and quick to commit. All that needs to happen for a thief to steal your IP is just to copy your product, idea or work. Usually, you might not even know your has been stolen. Since someone else has done all the heavy lifting, the thief benefits from your work without breaking a sweat.
It is possible that IP thieves will benefit financially from the theft. This profit loss can affect you deeper than just a simple theft. It is possible that the theft of their IP will result in damages to your business and reputation.
Read More >> http://yfsmagazine.com/2018/11/05/is-your-intellectual-property-protected/
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Quick And Easy Steps To Get Your Patent Application On File
By: Michael J Foycik Jr.
February 20, 2014
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
Need a patent application on file in a hurry? This happens, for example, if you have a trade show coming up, or want to show your idea/invention to anyone.
First, write some things down: what it is called; what it does; how it works; and what it is made of. This part can be short or long, as you prefer. It is a great start either way!
Second, make simple sketches of what your idea/invention looks like. Show the parts, too. It's good to have several views, such as top, front, and side views.
Third, get an official patent office cover sheet for a provisional patent application online at www.uspto.gov, at the forms page. It's easy to find.
Fourth, check out the micro entity form and instructions. If you qualify (most do), you are entitled to much lower government fees, and fill out the micro entity form.
Fifth, put the information from the above first and second steps into the form of a standard specification with headings. This is easy to find at the www.uspto.gov site.
Read More >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/Quick-And-Easy-Steps-To-Get-Your-Patent-Application-On-File.html
February 20, 2014
The author is a patent attorney with over 28 years experience in patents and trademarks. For further information, please email at IP1lwyr@gmail.com, or call at 877-654-3336.
Need a patent application on file in a hurry? This happens, for example, if you have a trade show coming up, or want to show your idea/invention to anyone.
First, write some things down: what it is called; what it does; how it works; and what it is made of. This part can be short or long, as you prefer. It is a great start either way!
Second, make simple sketches of what your idea/invention looks like. Show the parts, too. It's good to have several views, such as top, front, and side views.
Third, get an official patent office cover sheet for a provisional patent application online at www.uspto.gov, at the forms page. It's easy to find.
Fourth, check out the micro entity form and instructions. If you qualify (most do), you are entitled to much lower government fees, and fill out the micro entity form.
Fifth, put the information from the above first and second steps into the form of a standard specification with headings. This is easy to find at the www.uspto.gov site.
Read More >> http://internationalpatentservice.com/Quick-And-Easy-Steps-To-Get-Your-Patent-Application-On-File.html
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