Patents are one of the few things that level the playing field between small and larger businesses
Biznik member Jim Ruttler, who is a patent attorney, is hosting a workshop on Thursday that will be a great opportunity to learn the whys, ifs, and how-muches of patents. If you’ve ever wondered, “aren’t patents just for inventors like Alexander Graham Bell?” or, “is my idea or business process something patentable?” or “what exactly is a patent and why would I want one?” then this is your chance. Biznik’s intellectual property attorney Danny Bronski has this to say about Jim’s event:
“I just signed up for this event and see that there are a few spots left. It would be a tragedy if this didn’t fill up, in my opinion, because this will be one of the most valuable Biznik events yet. Hundreds of thousands of dollars can swing in the balance of getting the right patent — patents are one of the few things that level the playing field between small and larger businesses. Jim is really good at simplifying this area of law to help entrepreneurs and businesses think more strategically about what and whether to patent.”
March 15th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
I just got back from this event. I totally ruled! Packed with useful info, without the legal bull!%^&$! one might fear.
Best use of 25 bucks I’ve spent in a long time!
-Cere
March 17th, 2007 at 10:59 am
I attended the class too and I agree with Cere – that’s it’s some of the best $25 you can spend on your business if your business is even remotely doing something innovative or original.
For some reason I thought that the reason the only people I hever heard talking about patents were my friends who work at big companies like Microsoft was because the patent process began around $100K and was too cost-prohibitive for most bootstrapping micro-preneurs. That’s not always the case as we learned from Jim. And in many cases the smartest thing you can do is to file a provisional application as soon as possible, then see if you’ve got a market for your invention because you’ve got 12 months before you need to file the non-provisional and make it official. Once a product has been in the public domain for more than a year, you could lose rights to it if it becomes the “public’s invention”.
(I’m no patent lawyer – so I better stop there!)
I highly recommend signing up for Jim’s class, if he offers another one – or looking for him at the Seattle BizJam on June 9.