Category: General IP Management
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From Landscape to FTO: Distill Noise Into Actionable Moves
You’re moving fast, building something real, and pushing toward launch. But there’s that quiet, nagging thought in the background: are we clear to ship this? You’ve probably heard words like “patent landscape” or “freedom to operate” (FTO) tossed around. Maybe you even got a big PDF from a lawyer filled with confusing diagrams and legal…
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Manufacturing Process FTO: New Lines, New Risks
You’re scaling up. You’ve nailed the prototype. You’ve figured out the product-market fit. Now it’s time to move from lab to line—real production, real growth. Maybe you’re tweaking your process, adding a new material, or installing a better machine. Sounds exciting, right? It is. But here’s the quiet risk no one talks about: patents. Why…
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SaaS & Cloud FTO: Where “Use” Happens and Who Infringes
If you’re building a SaaS or cloud-based product, there’s one question that quietly hides in the background of every technical decision you make: where exactly does “use” happen—and who’s responsible for it? This isn’t just theory. It matters deeply when it comes to patents and freedom to operate (FTO). Because unlike traditional products, cloud software…
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103 Obviousness: Motivation to Combine—Build or Break It
You’ve built something new. Maybe it’s code. Maybe it’s hardware. Maybe it’s a new way of using existing tech. It’s working. It’s exciting. And now you’re thinking: should I patent this? Then someone throws out a scary phrase: “Section 103 obviousness.” What is “Motivation to Combine”? The Business Impact Behind the Legal Language For most…
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Teaching Away & Unexpected Results: The 103 Evidence Pack
You’ve built something new. Maybe it’s a smarter way to process data, a clever algorithm, a unique machine learning model, or even just a better tool to solve a problem others gave up on. You know it works. You know it’s different. But how do you protect it? What is “Teaching Away” and Why Should…
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Analogous Art in 103: Keep Out the Wrong References
If you’re building something new and want a patent, there’s one sneaky way your patent can get blocked before it even gets a chance: the examiner pulls in a reference from a totally different space. Something that sounds similar but has nothing to do with your invention. This is what we call analogous art in…
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Ranges & Overlap: Winning 103 with Criticality
If you’re building something new and important, you need to protect it. That usually means patents. But there’s one big hurdle that trips up a lot of startups and inventors: the USPTO’s Section 103. It’s the rule that says your idea can’t just be new—it also has to be non-obvious. And that’s where things get…
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112 Enablement: Wands Factors Checklist You Can Reuse
If you’re building something new—a product, a platform, a machine, or a breakthrough piece of tech—you probably care about speed. You want to move fast. Launch fast. Ship fast. And yes, protect fast. But when it comes to patents, there’s a part that can trip up even the smartest founders: Section 112 of U.S. patent…
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112 Written Description: Showing Support Without Rewriting
There’s one part of the patent rulebook that quietly trips up a lot of smart founders and engineers. It’s not because it’s complicated. It’s because it’s often misunderstood. It’s called the written description requirement under Section 112 of the U.S. patent laws. What Section 112 Really Means (And Why It’s So Easy to Miss) The…
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112 Indefiniteness: Fixing Fuzzy Terms Fast
Most founders don’t think about it until it’s too late. You file your patent. It seems fine. But later — maybe during funding, acquisition, or a legal review — someone finds it. A vague word. A fuzzy phrase. Something you thought was “clear enough.” What is 112 Indefiniteness — and Why It Can Blow Up…