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 Newsletter - March 2011
  This newsletter is for the benefit of: our customers both current and past, our workers , board members and friends including those of you we haven't talked to recently. Please feel free to forward to others who might be interested in our activities

The 6th Mistake-

Starting the Patent Clock without knowing it

 

 

On April 19 , Tracy Jong and I will be giving a seminar on the 5 Mistakes that inventors make in protecting their intellectual property that cost them time and money (see hyperlink).  I realized after preparing this talk that there was a 6th mistake I might have included that would be as significant as the other five.

 

That mistake happens when an entrepreneur gives up the rights to patent an invention without even knowing that he or she has done so.  Most inventors are so focused on getting their idea to work and then getting it to market that they put off thinking about patents until they may have taken steps that prevent them from ever getting one.

 

There are two ways that this usually happens

  1. Public Disclosure of the Invention
  2. Offering the Invention for sale

 

And a 3rd way which is not quite so common.  

 

3. Practicing the Invention.

 

 In the United States an inventor "starts the patent clock" whenever he or she does any of the 3 acts listed above.  Talking about the invention or publishing a paper on it might be just what is needed to create interest in the idea or attract investors but to do so starts a 1 year clock during which the inventor must file an application or loose rights to the invention.  Worse,  in Europe the right to file is lost immediately without even the one year grace period.  Discussing the invention before a patent application is filed (even a provisional application will do) should be done only under the protection of confidentiality such as non-disclosure agreements.

 

There are some exceptions to this rule at least in the US.  For example if the inventor can show the invention he offered for sale is still under development , he may still be able to patent it,  but it will be necessary to prove that the invention is still under development and that requires documentation.

 

So, word to the wise.  If you expect to patent your invention keep it secret until you have at least filed a provisional patent application and make sure that anyone you disclose the invention to has signed a confidentiality agreement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Who wants to buy my patent??

This is what inventors think about when they decide that they don't want to commercialize their invention themselves either because they are not so inclined or because they lack the skills and resources to do so. Many inventors think that finding a company to buy or license their invention should be easy and that they will soon be rolling in money for little or no effort beyond what they expended to make the invention.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.  To interest someone in your invention, unless it is an obvious and momentous breakthrough, takes almost as much effort as commercializing it.  In fact, the closer a patent is to commercialization, the easier it is to sell.

When I worked in an Innovation Hub I learned that there are 3 areas that must be covered to form a business from an idea: Marketing,  Technology/Operations and Finance.   These three areas which form the three circles of the Three Circle Model  lead to three questions:

  • The Technology/Operations Question -  Will it Work? and Can I make it?
  • The Marketing Question -- Will it Sell?
  • The Financial Question -- Will it make Money?

Unless all three of these circles are explored thoroughly and all three questions answered affirmatively, the idea cannot be converted to a business - Either by its inventor or anyone else.

The inventor usually focuses on only 1 of these 3 questions-- Once the idea works, the inventor concludes he is done.  But to sell the idea the other two questions must also be answered

 

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Rochester Penguin Group

First Look and Friends

 Penguin has refreshed its co-marketing arrangement with C3Business Information, publisher of the Skyminder customer credit reports.  C3 provides fast inexpensive credit information on companies to its clients.  However sometimes its clients need more than just credit information.   C3 is the source we use for the credit information in First Look reports.  We have now configured both our website and c3's to make it easier for customers to find what they want whether its just credit information or any of the additional information on companies that is found in First Look reports   To find out what's in a First Look report follow this link to our brochure.  Or if you want credit reports follow this one to our partnerC3BizInfo.

Both of our companies want to be sure our customers get just the information they need, when they need it and at a price they can afford to pay.

 
We appreciate your responses to our newsletters.  Please send us your comments.  We are always interested in what you want to know.
 
Sincerely,
 

Richard Blazey
Business Metamorphosis LLC

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