IP Due Diligence Checklist

Due diligence is essential for any business deal, and IP due diligence is shockingly left out of the equation for most angel investors and venture capital investors. Due diligence is hard work. Doing it well will get your hands dirty. Introduction to IP Due Diligence Any due diligence exercise, especially IP due diligence, involves turning…

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Detectability is a Key Factor for Patent Value

Updated 16 Jan 2022. Patents Need to be Detectable. This may appear to be an obvious statement, but people pour money into patents where infringement simply cannot be detected. Here’s a case where undetectable software claims were thrown out of federal court. When looking at an invention (or an issued patent), one of the first…

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How Much Does A Patent Cost?

Updated 23 July 2023 The average cost of a utility patent in the US is over $50,000. This is just the cost to file a utility patent application and the patent examination process. It does not cover the cost of enforcing your patent, which can be in the millions. All patent owners should have patent…

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How Patent Licensing Works

On a small scale, a patent owner might worry about creating patents that can be asserted against competitors. The plan is to stop a competitor from copying. These thoughts are often where a startup stops the analysis. This concept is the essence of a good patent. But what happens when you get the patent? How…

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How to Find a Realistic Patent Value

(Updated 22 July 2023.) The biggest factor to determine a patent’s value: revenue. A realistic patent valuation can be determined using many of the same techniques used to value businesses. However, it all depends on whether someone is actively copying your invention. How to value a patent all depends on whether there is product in…

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Only Gullible Angel Investors fall for Provisional Patents

Provisional patent applications are the worst things for angel investors. What is a provisional patent application? A provisional patent application, sometimes called a “provisional” or “PPA,” is the single worst thing a startup can do to “protect” themselves. And angel investors have been led to believe that this is a good strategy. I assure you,…

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Management of Patent Risk

Cipher.ai regularly releases some very interesting articles on patent risk. Their November 2021 article on “Management of Patent Risk” is available here. Cipher.ai surveyed 122 companies to look at strategies for handling IP risk. The IP risks are several. Cipher.ai uses the risk categories outlined in Edison in the Boardroom: Intrinsic risk – the risk…

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Provisional Patent Applications are Always Wrong for Your Business

Updated 22 Dec 2021 Provisional patent applications are misunderstood by many inventors, investors, and even patent attorneys. There is a notion that somehow a provisional patent application is good for inventors and startup companies. Let me be clear: there is nothing worse than a provisional patent application from a business standpoint. There is no reason…

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Cringeworthy statements: “There is Nothing Like it in the Market”

I hear from inventors and entrepreneurs who proudly state: “there is nothing like it in the market.” I cringe every time I hear this. There are two explanations for this statement.  One is that the entrepreneur has uncovered something that seven billion people have overlooked.  The other explanation is that seven billion people do not…

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Patents as Lottery Tickets

Patents have an asymmetry of reward. BlueIron capitalizes on this in a different way. Just like the torn up betting tickets at the race track, the patent system is littered with endless stacks of worthless patents.  Each patent representing a “good idea” of some inventor who thought it would make some money. A widely quoted…

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