Happy Business Marriage Part 2: The Prenuptial Agreement

August 26, 2011

For Happy Business Marriage Part 1: The Background Check
Although the Secret Third-party Infiltrator is a huge threat, the individuals to a collaboration have several other things to iron out before dancing through the daisies hand in hand.  To review – under both the patent and the copyright laws:
If there is more than one inventor or [...]

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new dates for women entrepreneur tele-class

August 26, 2011

Terry Chase Hazell, the Director of Texas State’s women entrepreneur program RampCorp, Heather Schafer, IP attorney and adjunct professor at Chicago Kent Law School, and myself, Jill Hubbard Bowman, an IP attorney and former women’s studies instructor at the University of Michigan, are writing and book called housework: A Women Entrepreneur’s Strategic Guide to Intellectual [...]

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Happy Business Marriage Part 1: The Background Check

August 24, 2011

The creative endeavor is one of the most beautiful relationships that two or more people can enter into together.  Creative ventures thrive on collaboration and there is no law against how many can join the venture.  However, it is important to know a sobering effect of joint works and inventions under both the patent and [...]

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Patent Value and What It Can Mean For Your Startup

August 23, 2011

It’s big news:  Google is paying $12.5 billion to take over Motorola Mobility, the maker of mobile handsets.
And Google really wanted the company for its patents.
It’s trying to beef up it’s paltry portfolio. Google also recently bought 1,000 patents from IBM.
In July a group of companies including Apple and Microsoft spent $4.5 billion for the [...]

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Does Your Startup Have an IP Strategy?

August 16, 2011

It’s a critical question:  Does your startup have an IP strategy?
Most startups don’t.
As an IP attorney who advises startups and emerging growth companies, I usually see a hodgepodge, willy-nilly approach to IP protection. It’s usually an after thought.
Many entrepreneurs don’t know what types of IP protection are available, how to prioritize protection based on their [...]

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Strong Patents vs. Crappy Patents

August 15, 2011

All patents are not created equal. Indeed, there is a world of difference between a strong patent and a crappy one.
The strength of a patent lies in its claims.
Some inventors mistakenly think that the details disclosed in the patent’s specification define the scope of their legal rights.
Not so.
The key part of a patent is [...]

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The Top Five Ways to Blow Possible Patent Protection

August 5, 2011

The surprised and dejected look on clients’ faces when we tell them their invention is no longer eligible for patent protection is not one a patent attorney likes to experience.  The look morphs between a huge exhale to fuming red face with fists pounding the table and screams of “This can not be so, you [...]

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Free Teleclass: How to Protect the Value of Your Software Products

August 2, 2011

Do you want to know who owns the IP rights to custom software?

Do you want to learn how to protect your software investment?

Do you want to learn about the most common IP problems that can harm the value of your software?

Heather Schafer and I will be explaining these issues and more in a free teleclass:
Sunday, [...]

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Creating a Strategic IP Plan: The First Step

July 29, 2011

The first step in creating a strategic IP plan is to understand just a little about the four basic types of intellectual property:

trademarks
trade secrets
copyrights
patents

Your startup may need to use some or all types of IP legal protection for its core technology and assets.
Trademark law may protect your company’s brand including :

your logo
the name for your [...]

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Does Your Startup Have a Strategic IP Plan?

July 26, 2011

Everyday we see entrepreneurs struggling to prioritize time, money and resources. Unfortunately, many postpone dealing with complex, icky legal issues.  And few have a strategic IP plan.
A lack of legal strategy, however, can cost your company big bucks down the road and may even obliterate it.
Picking the wrong type of legal entity for investment [...]

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