Most Common Mistake In Provisional Patent Applications

A provisional patent application (PPA) is a fast and cost-effective tool to protect your valuable inventions.  A PPA establishes a filing date for your invention in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and provides 12 months to decide whether to file a “traditional” non-provisional patent application.  During those 12 months, you can continue to develop the invention, test the commercial value of the invention, and seek investors, business partners, and licensing opportunities.

As an intellectual property attorney, I have written hundreds of PPAs and reviewed more than 1000 PPA documents.  Based on this work, I have discovered the most common mistake when preparing PPAs.

Inadequate description.

Although a PPA is a valuable tool, it must meet certain requirements to be valid.  For example, a PPA must have the same level of written description as a “traditional” patent application.  The written description of a PPA (including the drawings) must teach someone who is skilled in the relevant technology to make and use the invention.

I’ve seen many PPA applicants submit marketing brochures and lists of invention benefits without any description of how the invention is implemented.  These applications are not valid and will not be given the benefit of the PPA filing date.

Failing to satisfy the written description requirement provides a false sense of security.

Although a PPA was filed, the USPTO will not recognize the filing date of the PPA if it has an inadequate description.  Unfortunately, the inventor may be disclosing the invention publicly during the 12 months after filing the PPA, falsely believing that they have protected the invention.  In some situations, this public disclosure of the invention may prevent them from obtaining a patent on their invention.

When preparing a PPA, focus on a strong written description that explains the benefits of the invention as well as specific details regarding how to make and use the invention.  I recommend using drawings that complement the written description.  Often, the drawings can help illustrate features of the invention better than relying exclusively on a written description.

Avoid this common PPA mistake to ensure you have a valid application that provides the protection you require.

Ready to learn how to protect your own inventions? Get details about the Invention Protection Blueprint course at http://InventionProtectionBlueprint.com

It’s Time for Your Intellectual Property Assessment

July 1 marks the midpoint of the year.  This is a perfect time to assess your intellectual property (IP) situation.  If you’ve been neglecting your IP, you are not alone.  Many tech company leaders I’ve talked with have done nothing in the first six months of 2019 to identify and protect their IP assets.

Let’s fix that problem!

You already know that properly protected IP can provide a competitive advantage and protect your valuable innovations from being stolen. Don’t let another 6 months go by without giving serious attention to your high-value IP assets.

I’ve been helping tech companies with Intellectual Property Assessments for more than 20 years.  Based on my experience preparing these assessments, here are four things you can do to build your IP portfolio in the next six months:

1. Be sure you are identifying inventions and filing patent applications. More than 150,000 patent applications were filed during the first half of 2019 – how many did your company file?  If your answer is “Zero”, change that in the next six months.
2. If you have hired new employees in the last six months, train those new hires on the importance of IP and teach them how to identify inventions.
3. Smart organizations schedule regular brainstorming sessions and invention contests to create an innovation culture that produces a steady stream of new inventions. How many brainstorming sessions and invention contests did you conduct in the first half of 2019?  If your answer is “Zero”, add this to your list of key activities for the second half of the year.
4. Schedule an “invention mining” session to analyze any new products (or product enhancements) released in the past 6-12 months. Look for any critical inventions in those products and take steps to protect the inventions.

Don’t spend another six months ignoring your valuable IP.

Failing to protect your IP in a timely manner may cause inventions to become freely available to your competitors.

Get started with at least one of the above activities this week so you have a stronger IP portfolio by the end of the year.

The four activities listed above are part of my 12-point Intellectual Property Assessment.  This assessment provides a comprehensive analysis of a company’s current IP situation and identifies problems to fix.  Based on the analysis, I map out an IP plan for the next 6-12 months that will expand the company’s IP assets.

If you are interested in learning more about an Intellectual Property Assessment for your organization, let’s schedule a time to talk.  Click Here to Contact Me.

Need a fast, cost-effective method to protect your most valuable inventions? Try this.

Many people are familiar with “traditional” patent applications, which are referred to as non-provisional patent applications.

These are formal patent applications with specific rules regarding a written description, drawings, and claims that define the legal protection provided by each non-provisional patent application. The applications are typically prepared by patent attorneys (or patent agents) and go through an examination process to determine whether the invention described in the application is patentable.

A well-drafted non-provisional patent application typically costs $8,000-15,000 depending on complexity.

However, there’s another type of application referred to as a provisional patent application (PPA). This application allows an inventor to establish a filing date in a fast and cost-effective manner.

A PPA is not examined and never becomes a patent itself, but it’s a powerful tool for securing a filing date that gives the inventor time to determine whether to file a more expensive non-provisional patent application.

Here are three crucial benefits of incorporating PPAs into your intellectual property strategy:

1. Establishes a filing date for your invention with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

The United States is aContinue reading

Most Technology Companies Fail to Protect their Critical Intellectual Property Assets. Here’s Why.

Most technology companies take a haphazard approach to protecting their vital intellectual property (IP) assets. They have no system to identify innovative ideas, prioritize which ideas are the most valuable, and build a strong IP portfolio filled with strategic inventions.

Inventions are critical for technology companies to maintain a competitive advantage. New competitors can “come out of nowhere” with a product that steals market share from well-established companies. Without a strong IP portfolio, your company is at risk of lost revenue – or worse – due to these competing products.

Thus, your company needs a system for identifying, evaluating, and protecting important inventions and other IP.

Keep away from the haphazard approach to protecting your IP.

This approach is guaranteed to fail.

IP strategies are not taught in college or high school, so most people never learn these skills.

Here’s how most tech companies fail to begin identifying and protecting their valuable IP assets, and how you can avoid doing the same:

1. They fail to assess their current IP situation

The lack of guidance or knowledge about IP causes most companies to either ignore the subject or randomly prepare a couple patent applications without determining whether they actually benefit the company.

The unfortunate result is a weak IP portfolio with patent applications that do not provide significant value to the organization.

Building a strong IP portfolio requires Continue reading

7 Ways To Protect Your Intellectual Property in 2019

A strong intellectual property (IP) portfolio is critical for technology companies to maintain a competitive advantage and drive company growth.  Here are seven ways to protect your IP and strengthen your IP portfolio.

1. Identify Your Intellectual Property Assets. You can’t take steps to protect your IP until it is identified.  Create systems that discover these assets as part of your day-to-day operations.
2. Consider All Types of Intellectual Property Protection. Learn how to use all four types of IP (patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets) to secure those assets.
3. Use Provisional Patent Applications to Quickly Protect Inventions. Establishing an early filing date for your invention is important in the United States.  Provisional patent applications offer fast and cost-effective protection of important inventions.
4. Protect the Right Inventions. A valuable IP portfolio includes patents covering core technology as well as future ideas and inventions that are important to competitors.
5. Watch Out for Public Disclosure. Implement systems to identify important inventions (so you can secure your patent rights) prior to public disclosure, such as trade shows, white paper publications, and press releases.
6. Use Proper Agreements to Ensure Ownership of Your Intellectual Property. Use signed agreements that require all employees and contractors to assign IP rights to the company.  Promote the use of non-disclosure agreements and confidentiality agreements throughout your organization.
7. Develop An Innovation Culture. Encourage all team members to spend time on innovative activities, which creates a steady stream of new ideas and fosters a strong work environment.

Are you ready to create a plan to strengthen your IP portfolio?  Apply for a complimentary IP Strategy Session where we will review your current IP portfolio and identify actions you can take to strengthen your IP protection.  Apply for your complimentary IP Strategy Session at IPStrategySession.com.

Don’t believe these 5 Intellectual Property Myths!

I have a long list of Intellectual Property Myths I have created over the past 20 years. Some of these myths are silly and others are dangerous because they can have a negative impact on your business.

Today I’m putting on my “Myth Busters” hat to debunk five of those myths – focusing on the ones that can harm your business.

Here’s my countdown of the five worst offenders:

5. Intellectual property is too expensive

4. Intellectual property is too complicated

3. I don’t have enough time to protect my intellectual property

2. Intellectual property is just for technology companies and large corporations

And, the #1 worst offender…Continue reading

Do I have Intellectual Property that I need to Protect?

At a recent business event, I struck up a conversation with another businessperson about intellectual property. As we were talking, she said, “My business doesn’t have intellectual property, I’m just a consultant.”

Rather than tell her she was wrong, I politely asked her if I could see some of the materials she used with clients in her consulting work. After looking at a couple of her blog posts and listening to her description of the business framework she teaches to her clients, I realized that she did not understand intellectual property.

I asked her if she would be angry if another consultant copied the customized consulting documents she created based on her 15 years of experience in the business world. She quickly exclaimed, “Yes, those are my materials! I’ll go after anyone who steals my work.”

That’s a normal response. She spent considerable time, money, and effort to create the unique content she uses in her business. That content is unique because it’s based on her own experiences over the past 15 years and represents the proprietary systems she has created.Continue reading

Intellectual Property Step-By-Step

After working with hundreds of businesses for more than 20 years, I have developed a system to help entrepreneurs and businesses identify and protect their intellectual property assets.

If you are confused about intellectual property, or you think that your business doesn’t have any intellectual property, you’re not alone. Many of my current clients were initially embarrassed because they didn’t know what questions to ask about this topic.

Over time, I have developed a five-step system to help businesses learn about intellectual property and safeguard their valuable assets. After following this system, they better understand intellectual property and how to leverage it to strengthen their business. The five-step system is described below.

1. Understand and Identify Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is commonly defined as a “creation of the mind.” Your intellectual property assets include ideas, inventions, creative works, and innovative thoughts. Here are some examples of intellectual property your business may create:Continue reading

How to Protect the Creative Works in Your Business

Your business produces creative works on a regular basis. For example, the documents, images, website content, blog posts, and PowerPoint slides are creative works generated by you or the team members in your business.

These creative works are valuable to your company when they attract new clients, improve your products or services, and distinguish your business from competitors. You and your team invest time and effort to produce these valuable creations, so you must protect that investment.

Unfortunately, many companies don’t give any significant thought to protecting these business assets. That’s a mistake.

Your creative works represent your company’s intellectual property assets. Here are several things you can do to start protecting those creative works today.

1. Identify All Creative Works

Before you can take action to protect your creative works, you must first identify them. Your creative works include anything created by you or your team. Examples include written content, images and graphic designs, website content, presentation slides, audio content, and video content.Continue reading

Capturing Your Intellectual Property

Innovative ideas can occur at any time. If you’re like me, some of your best ideas “pop” into your head at the most unexpected times.

These innovative ideas may be important intellectual property assets, so it’s important to capture them quickly. In today’s busy world, we are bombarded with new distractions every minute. A single great idea can make a huge impact on your business. That’s why it is important to implement systems that allow you to catch your intellectual property rapidly before it “escapes your mind.”

For example, it’s important to capture new product ideas, changes to current business processes, new book ideas, inventions, website design changes, and new marketing ideas. These items are important to your business and can set you apart from your competitors.

Here are several ways to be sure you and your team are always prepared to capture your innovative ideas:Continue reading