By Jackie Hutter Potential clients frequently ask if they can successfully sell or license their patents; unfortunately, the answer is, far more often than not, “no.” Be it a cultural construct of “inventor exceptionalism,” repeated viewing of late-night infomercials by folks who like to tinker, or lazy journalism that elevates human interest stories about successful […]
Better Patent Services for Innovators: Patentability Reviews
September 3, 2018 by Leave a Comment
By Jackie Hutter Patent professionals can do a better job providing patentability review, or “opinion,” services for innovators. As most readers would recognize, a patentability review assesses whether the invention to be claimed will meet the legal requirements for patentability. In the US, this entails an assessment by a patent attorney, which can be based […]
Startup Patent Strategy: US Patent Non-Publication
May 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment
By Jackie Hutter The Takeaway: For startups whose development efforts lag behind a looming US utility application filing deadline, use of the “Request for Non-Publication” in US patent filing can allow them to preserve the option of shoring up their patent protection for an extended period in the future, while still retaining the priority date of […]
Need Broad Patents Fast? Try This.
February 5, 2018 by Leave a Comment
By Jackie Hutter That title got your attention, didn’t it? It was meant to. After another successful round of patent application examinations for several clients in the last year, I thought others would like access to my proven patent acquisition methodology. Certainly, there’s a lot more than I can include in this post, and what […]
Protecting Your Company’s Value? Think Beyond the “Usual IP Suspects”
February 6, 2017 by 1 Comment
By Jackie Hutter Entrepreneurs seeking to maximize their company’s value must think beyond the “Usual IP Suspects,” that is, patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. I call these forms of IP the “Usual Suspects” because they are what entrepreneurs and their advisers invariably focus on when questions arise about protecting a company’s value. While these […]
IP Strategy is Increasing Focus at Innovative Companies: Here’s Why
August 15, 2016 by 1 Comment
By Jackie Hutter After more than 8 years, I can report that IP Strategy is an increasing focus at innovative companies, and there is a solid reason why this is so. By way of background, for many years, I have been part of a small minority of IP experts who advocate that companies desiring to […]
Your Patents Probably Don’t Matter. Or Do They? How to Know the Difference.
May 9, 2016 by 2 Comments
By Jackie Hutter Let’s cut through the noise and get real about patents: they rarely matter to business value, but when they do matter, they typically matter A LOT. Sadly, there are few people out there–even those appearing as patent experts–who can distinguish between these two vastly different scenarios. This means that most patents, and […]
Why Business Fails to Generate Patenting Strategies that Protect Innovation Value and How to Make It Easier
November 23, 2015 by Leave a Comment
By Jackie Hutter Business leaders often find the decision of whether to obtain patent protection for their company’s innovations to be difficult. Of course, conventional wisdom, not to mention legions of patent attorneys, assert that patents are “important” to “protect” one’s business. In my experience, however, few business people can clearly articulate specifically why and […]
Lack of Focus on IP Strategy Destroys $100 Millions in Value
October 5, 2015 by Leave a Comment
By Jackie Hutter As an IP Strategist, I am fascinated by stories from which declining business fortunes can be traced directly to failed patent strategies. Often, the failures can be traced to patent attorney errors that limit the effectiveness of a company’s patent to prevent competitive knock-offs, but, often, the problems can be traced to […]
How Startup Patent Filing is Different
September 7, 2015 by Leave a Comment
By Jackie Hutter The prevailing view of patent experts who advise innovators–be they individuals or companies–it that patent filings should occur as early as possible. This advice, which is even more prevalent now that the US has moved to a “first to file” system, exacerbates the significant problem of worthless patents that I have written […]
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