Business Metamorphosis LLC     BML Logo
In This Issue
Featured Article
Sizing Patent Searches
Disclosure and Security
The Right Time for Opportunities
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 Newsletter - September  2014
 
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Sizing Patent Searches

The patent databases are vast. It is practically impossible to search through every patent in them from a logistical and cost standpoint.   Of course when we search them by keywords the search engine does  look at all the patents that fit a search string, but the problem is what do we do with the patents that  fit the string we use.  In our AlaCarte searching process we use a three  tier approach with the largest tier those patents that fit all the search strings in the patent search profile we create.  


 

Then we download metadata from each of the patents that was found by our search strings and sieve down to another level , the relevance read level.  These patents are read by humans for a very short time each just to determine if they are relevant, irrelevant or possibly relevant.  


 

Since the entire search size is determined by size of the first tier or "Drop", that number drives the price of the patent search.  The larger the drop the more patents we have to read at the more refined levels and the higher the cost of the search.


 

It is the customer that sets the size of the drop.  We give customers choices of search sizes.  The large the search the more likely we are to find all relevant patents but the more expensive the search.  Smaller less expensive searches increase the possibility that something might get missed.  We review our search strategy and profile with the customer before he or she must decide on the search size.


 

It is possible to adjust the search size after we start.  For example,  sometimes we find more patents rated as "High" than the customer has contracted for.  In that case we give the customer the option of paying for more High reads, or downgrading some to medium or reading the extras him or herself.


 

So the patents that we find in a search are determined by the scope of the search and that is set ,by in large ,by the preference of the customer.


 

We never know how good a job we have done until we encounter patent prosecution.  If we have found the most important prior art then it is unlikely that the patent examiner will find anything stronger to use against the client.


 

However, patent examiners all have their own quirks and may select patents to cite that  neither the client, the attorney nor BML feels is relevant,  but that is another story.  As long as we have found the strongest rational prior art we feel that we have done our job.


 

Some patent attorneys oppose the whole concept of patent searches.  They feel that it provides ammunition to the patent examiner since the client must tell them what is found in a search.   We discount this argument feeling that if something significant is out there its better to know about it in advance so claims can be adjusted to compensate.  Also even if the examiner misses something we might have found, its better for the client to know about it than to hear about it from a competitor during a patent infringement suit.


 

For more information on sizing or pricing patent searches please contact us using the information below.

 


 

email  rblazey@businessmetamorphosis.com 

or  give us a call at  (585) 520-3539  

 

What to Disclose and What to Protect

ITTr Logo
In order to find a buyer for an invention we must disclose information about the invention to prospective purchasers.  Most of our clients inventions have either an issued patent or a patent application disclosure.  Those documents are in the public record and there is no risk to the client by disclosing them.  However the is often much additional information surrounding the invention that is not contained in these public disclosures.  When we get into conversations, or particularly negotiations, with prospective buyers often that information needs to be shared.

That is the point were we need to introduce confidentiality agreements usually called NDA or CDA's.   Those agreements protect  trade secrets ,  detailed methods of use and other such confidential information.

A non-disclosure agreement doesn't provide perfect protection but in proves the interaction of the parties and their intent to protect the information that is designated as confidential.

Some information you may not wish to disclose.  It may be a trade secret which for example applies to other products you make that are not included in the pending sale.  

Those secrets may be protected by providing the product instead of the information to make it.  For example Coca Cola has never disclosed the formula for its product, yet bottlers worldwide make Coke by purchasing Coca Cola syrup from the company, adding carbonated water and bottling the resulting product.

There is another kind of trade secret that is used in the software world.  Often software is not patented.  Sometimes it is  not even copyrighted.  What usually is done is that the source code is kept as a trade secret and the object code is sold under a license called a EULA.  a EULA is that annoying document that no one ever reads that you have to click to agree to whenever you install a piece of software on your computer.  Its of no interest to most users but it does protect the software author against someone reverse engineering, copying or reselling their software to someone else.

So when you are in negotiations with a company surrounding a purchase of a patent or patent portfolio,  look carefully at the other information they request.  Determine if they really need it and what the best way is to provide it.

Sometimes companies will request information that you don't have.  An example would be that a company might want health and safety information on a new chemical.  In that case the seller might offer to gather the information for a fee or discount the sale to cover the cost of the company obtaining the information themselves.

If the information is crucial to the buyers decision to buy an option deal might be concluded instead of a sale where the option rests on the results of the health and safety tests. 

ITTr can help you with option deals.   

So for more information on what to protect and how to do it when you are selling a patent , contact us at the address below.


For more information write to rblazey@ittrifecta.com or call (585) 520-3539

The Right time to Do Something New
OA Logo
When is the right time to exploit an opportunity?  Identifying opportunities and ranking them  is the business of OA.   Many businesses have opportunities they don't exploit due to lack of time , resources etc but mostly from a single minded focus on the daily business of the company, a place we call Quadrant I.  

Companies know they must try something new when the business starts going south due to changes in technology, the external environment or other things.   However, waiting until its clearly time to try something new, is often too late.  By this time the company may have already started down the winding road to a fatal "death spiral" into bankruptcy.   

The time to work on new things is when the company is doing fine and resources are available to support efforts outside of the companies traditional business operations.

However, at those times  the powers that be can always come up with low risk enhancements to the current product line  that seem more enticing than  longer term higher risk projects that might have a much greater payoff.

The further a proposed project is from the conventional way the company does business the more vigorously it will be opposed by the entrenched power centers.

That is why companies need an external disinterested party like OA to help them.  Since we have no position in the existing power structure and we are no longer present when the work is done, we can appear less of a threat to entrenched interests.

So if you want to ensure your companies future despite the inevitable changes in the business environment,  contact us and let us tell you what we can do to give you options outside of your "Business Comfort Zone".

Please contact us by email 

to rblazey rochester.rr.com or visit our website at www.opportunity-associates.com  
or call us at (585) 520=3539
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
Disclaimers 

 
Please realize that this newsletter contains only our opinions on patent matters.  We are not authorized to give legal advice.  If you are seeking such advice please contact an attorney.
 

 

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