Category: General IP Management
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Narrowing Claims to Save Costs: Smart Amendments That Hold Value
You do not win a patent by asking for everything. You win by asking for the right thing. Most founders think broader claims mean stronger protection. It feels logical. Cast a wide net. Cover it all. Block everyone. But in the real world, broad claims often mean long delays, high legal bills, and endless back-and-forth…
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Geographic Pruning: Which Countries to Keep—and Drop
You worked hard to build something real. A new model. A new system. A new way of doing something better. Now you’re thinking about patents—and suddenly the world feels very big. Do you file in the U.S.? Europe? China? Everywhere? Filing in every country sounds safe. But it can also drain your cash fast. Geographic…
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Family Overlap: Stop Paying Twice for the Same Coverage
You work too hard to pay twice for the same thing. Yet many founders do exactly that with their patents. They build something new, file one patent, then build the next version and file again—without checking what they already own. The result? Overlap. Duplicate filings. Extra legal bills. And weaker protection than they think. Let’s…
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Maintenance Fees vs. Value: When a Patent Isn’t Worth Renewing
A patent is not a trophy. It is a tool. And like any tool, it only makes sense to keep it if it still does the job. Many founders believe once a patent is granted, the hard part is over. But that is not true. The real question comes later. Should you keep paying to…
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Patent ROI Framework: Score Each Asset Before You Pay Again
You should not pay another dollar on a patent until you know exactly what it is worth to your startup. Not what you hope it is worth. Not what your lawyer says. Not what feels impressive in a pitch deck. What it is actually worth. Every patent you file, every renewal fee you pay, every…
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Keep, Narrow, or Abandon? A Step-by-Step Patent Triage Guide
You filed a patent. Or maybe you are thinking about filing one. Now you are staring at it and asking a hard question: should I keep pushing this forward, narrow it down, or walk away? This is not just a legal choice. It is a business move. It affects your runway, your leverage with investors,…
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Portfolio Pruning 101: How to Cut IP Costs Without Losing Protection
Patents cost money. Sometimes a lot of it. Filing fees, lawyer time, office actions, renewals, foreign filings—it adds up fast. If you are building a startup, every dollar matters. But cutting patents the wrong way can hurt you later when investors ask hard questions or a big company copies your work. That is where portfolio…
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Red Teaming Your Program: How to Test for Weak Spots
Most programs fail in quiet ways. Not because the idea was bad, but because no one tried to break it early. Red teaming is the habit of attacking your own work before the world does. You look for cracks on purpose. You test the edges. You assume something will go wrong and you go find…
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M&A Readiness: Data Rooms for Trade Secret Programs
If someone wanted to buy your company tomorrow, could you prove what you actually own? That single question decides whether deals move fast, stall, or fall apart. In mergers and acquisitions, trade secrets often matter more than patents. Your code, models, data pipelines, processes, and know-how are usually the real value. But here is the…
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Governance Dashboard: KPIs for Trade Secret Health
Most founders talk about patents. Very few talk about trade secrets. Yet for many startups, trade secrets are the real gold. Your code logic. Your model tweaks. Your internal process. The quiet details that make your product hard to copy. The problem is simple. You cannot protect what you do not track. Trade secrets do…