Category: General IP Management
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Pre-Appeal Brief Conferences: Who Grants and Why
Filing a patent is already a journey. You’ve built something real. You’ve invested time and energy. You’ve gone through the application process. And then you hit a wall. The examiner rejects your application. Maybe more than once. Now what?You could appeal. But appeals can take years. They can cost a fortune. And worst of all,…
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Visuals That Change Minds: Figures for Design-Arounds
When you are building something new, the biggest risk is not just if your product works. The real danger is when others copy it or work around it. Competitors will often try to make small changes so they can still take your market without facing legal trouble. That’s where design-arounds come in. Why Figures Matter…
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Calibrate Claim Breadth to Examiner Risk Tolerance
If you’re building something new—something real—you probably know patents can help protect it. But here’s the thing most founders don’t realize: how you write your patent claims can make or break your chances of getting approved. Not just someday. Right now. On this patent. With this examiner. What Is Claim Breadth, Really? Claim Breadth Isn’t…
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Claim Charting for FTO: Map Specs to Competitor Claims
When you’re building something new, you’re usually focused on getting it to work, getting it to market, and getting people to use it. But there’s one thing that can quietly wreck all of that: patents you didn’t know about. That’s why smart teams do something called freedom to operate, or FTO. It’s a way to…
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Scoping an FTO Search Around Real Product Features
If you’re building something real, something that works, you don’t want legal surprises down the road. You want to launch fast, stay protected, and sleep at night knowing no one’s going to send you a cease and desist letter the week you go live. What FTO Really Means When You’re Shipping a Product FTO Isn’t…
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FTO vs. Patentability: What’s the Difference and Why It Matters
When you’re deep into building something new—whether it’s a software tool, a machine learning model, or a new type of hardware—you’re probably thinking about protecting it. You might also be wondering if you’re legally in the clear to launch it. Those are two very different questions, and they lead to two very different legal checks:…
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Freedom-to-Operate 101: Clearance Before You Launch
Before you launch your product, write a single line of marketing copy, or even start raising money, there’s one thing you need to be sure of: that you’re legally allowed to do what you’re doing. That’s what “Freedom to Operate” means. It’s not about whether your invention is new or whether you can get a…
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Mine File Histories to Tune Your Interview Pitch
Here’s the thing. Most startup founders and engineers spend all their time building cool stuff. New tech. Better code. Smarter models. And that’s great—because that’s the fun part. But when it’s time to talk to the patent examiner? Or explain your invention in a way that sticks and gets through? That’s where things slow down.…
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Interview Scripts: What to Say, What to Show
When you’re building something new—something the world hasn’t seen before—you’re not just solving problems. You’re also convincing people. Investors. Customers. Partners. Maybe even patent attorneys. And often, the make-or-break moment comes down to one thing: how you talk about your idea. Why Interview Scripts Matter More Than You Think It’s not just a formality Most…
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Build Examiner-Specific Amendment Playbooks
Every founder knows this: getting a patent approved isn’t easy. It’s not just about having a great idea. It’s about playing the game right. And one of the biggest players in that game? The examiner. The truth is, every patent examiner at the USPTO is different. Some are tough. Some are slow. Some love details.…