Category: General IP Management

If you are building technology that talks to other technology, you are already close to the world of FRAND, whether you know it or not. FRAND sounds complex. It feels legal. It feels slow. It feels like something only big companies with giant legal teams should care about. That feeling is wrong. FRAND matters to…

If you are building tech that touches a standard, patents stop being optional. They become power. Claim charts are how that power gets proven. And when standard-essential patents, or SEPs, are involved, claim charts are not paperwork. They are the whole game. What a Claim Chart Really Proves in a Standard World A claim chart…

If you are building real technology and working with standards, there is a moment where patents stop being optional and start being mission-critical. That moment is when your invention touches a standard. This is where Standard Essential Patents, or SEPs, enter the picture. And this is also where many founders make quiet mistakes that cost…

A patent does not become powerful by accident. It becomes powerful when the world starts using it without even knowing it. That is what happens when a patent becomes “essential” to a standard. This article explains, in plain and simple words, how that happens, why it matters so much, and what founders and engineers can…

Patents shape how modern technology gets built, shared, and sold. Most founders know patents matter, but very few understand how patents behave when they sit at the center of big, shared tech standards like Wi-Fi, 5G, video codecs, or payment systems. That confusion is exactly where FRAND comes in. FRAND sounds like legal noise. It…

If you build tech that talks to other tech, this topic matters to you. A lot. Standard-essential patents, or SEPs, quietly control how modern products work, who gets paid, and who gets locked out. Founders often hear the term too late, usually when a big company sends a scary letter. This article fixes that. We…

When you’re building something new — a product, a system, or a piece of code that could change your field — your focus is speed. You want to launch, get users, and iterate. But there’s this other piece sitting quietly in the background that can either protect your entire future or leave you exposed: your…

When you build something new, you want to protect it. A patent is how you lock that in. But here’s the tricky part—how long that lock actually lasts can change, and not always in ways you expect. Small choices in how you file your patent can quietly shorten or extend your protection. That’s where things…

When you file a patent, you’re often told you have “one invention per application.” But real inventions don’t always fit neatly into one box. Ideas grow, twist, and evolve. That’s where divisional applications come in. A divisional lets you spin off parts of your original patent into new applications—without losing your original filing date. It’s…

Getting a patent allowed quickly isn’t just about having a great invention—it’s about knowing how the system really works. And one of the smartest moves inventors and startups can make is learning how to use continuation applications to your advantage. Using Continuations to Build Momentum, Not Start Over When you think about a continuation, don’t…