Patent Strategies for Startups Webinar - Part of the Patexia IP Matters Web Series

August 8th 2013 at 1:30PM ET (10:30AM PT)

Speaker: Lang McHardy, CEO at Vested IP

In 2011, spending by Apple and Google on patents exceeded spending on research and development of new products.

IP Matters.

In 2012, Google spent $12.4 billion dollars to acquire Motorola Mobility primarily for its patents, and Facebook bought 650 former AOL patents from Microsoft for $550 million (~$850k per patent).

Yet too many startups tend to "ignore" patents, some to the extent that they don't get any.

Later on in their lives, many find themselves regretting this. Patents allow a more mature business to protect its original innovations as well as guard itself against litigation from other companies by giving it the ability to countersue. A mature company may also be able to generate additional revenue through licensing or spin-off businesses by extending core patented technologies into new markets.

At this point, though, it's often too late for them to really build up an organic portfolio, and a lot of companies have to resort to buying up patents left and right. See the recent behavior of Google, Groupon, and Facebook all of whom spent years acting like they didn't really need patents.

Long-term, startups can benefit greatly from a better patent strategy early on, both for protecting and capitalizing on their own work, and guarding themselves against litigation.

Enter Lang McHardy, CEO of Vested IP, he’s been helping startups with patent strategy for 12 years. In the next Patexia IP Matters webinar, Lang will cover patent strategy for startups.

Lang (emphasis ours): “Startups are not smaller versions of large companies. Because of this, wise startups have different motivations for obtaining patents and use different strategies, tactics and tools to obtain them. Every startup should have a strategy for managing both offensive and defensive aspects of patents.

In this talk, we will discuss the motivations and strategies that smart startups employ when building a patent portfolio. We will talk about how to identify which inventions are most ripe for patenting and which should be ignored, how to stretch a limited patent budget, and how to keep the patent strategy fresh as the business evolves.”

He’ll answer questions like:

Why should startups file for patents?
Which inventions are worth patenting?
When is the right time to file?
Where should startups file patents?
What should you do when the business pivots?

The talk will take place on August 8th at 1:30PM ET (10:30AM PT) and will last 20 minutes. We'll take questions during the talk and answer them afterwards.

About the Speaker: Lang McHardy is the principal of Vested IP, which provides patent management and patent analysis services for companies of all sizes in a wide range of technologies, with a focus on early stage technology companies. Through Vested IP, Lang provides part-time in-house patent portfolio management and strategy advisory services as well as competitive analyses,due diligence, patentability analyses, patent landscape analyses, and patent assessments in support of buy-side and sell-side transactions.

Lang is a registered Patent Agent and executive with over 12 years experience in patent strategy, patent prosecution, technology development, patent strategy development and the assessment, valuation, and analysis of small and large patent portfolios in a wide range of technologies. Prior to founding Vested IP, Lang was the Director and Practice Leader of Patent Analytics at Ocean Tomo, and before that he was a Patent Agent with the boutique IPlaw firm of Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear.

[1] http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130501/09000922908/when-startups-need-more-lawyers-than-employees.shtml

[2] http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2013/03/chien-patent-trolls.html

[3] http://gigaom.com/2012/10/08/twitter-time-for-trolls-to-pay-full-price-for-patent-mischief/

[4] http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120309/04304018046/why-its-mathematically-impossible-to-avoid-infringing-software-patents.shtml

[5] http://www.techdirt.com/blog/startups/articles/20130420/23340522780/patents-as-weapons-how-1-800-contacts-is-using-patent-system-to-kill-innovative-startup.shtml

[6] Photo courtesy flickr/star5112