Tag: Patent Workflow Automation
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Playbook: Twelve Month Plan for a High-Leverage Patent Family
You’ve built something powerful. Something that could change your industry. But here’s the thing—great ideas alone don’t win. Protected ideas do. That’s where your patent family comes in. A strong patent family is like building a fortress around your invention. Not a single wall, but a network of protections—each one covering a different angle of…
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Exit and Licensing: Why Buyers Love Active Families
When you’re building something new—a product, a platform, or even a breakthrough algorithm—it’s easy to stay laser-focused on getting it to work. You’re thinking about users, traction, maybe fundraising. But one thing most founders overlook early on is what happens after all that success: the exit. Whether it’s an acquisition, a licensing deal, or a…
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Data-Driven Family Strategy: When to File, What to Claim
In startups, timing is everything. You can build a great product, raise smart money, and still lose your edge if someone else patents your idea before you. On the flip side, filing too early can lock you into claims that don’t grow with your product. So how do you know when to file, what to…
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File Histories and Estoppel: Protecting Future Continuations
When you file a patent, you’re not just locking in protection for your invention today—you’re also shaping what you can protect tomorrow. Every word you write, every amendment you make, and every argument your attorney sends to the patent examiner becomes part of your file history. That file history doesn’t disappear after your patent is…
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Divisionals After PCT National Phase: Timing and Tips
When your startup’s invention reaches the global stage through a PCT application, it feels like a big win. You’ve taken your idea from local to international—protecting it across borders and showing the world you’re serious about what you’ve built. But once your PCT application enters the national phase, a new question often comes up: What…
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CIP vs New Application: Scope, Cost, and Risk Tradeoffs
If you’ve ever updated your invention and wondered whether to file a new patent or build on your old one, you’re not alone. This is one of those moments every founder or engineer faces once the idea starts evolving faster than the paperwork. You’ve already filed something once, maybe months ago, but now you’ve made…
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How to Draft Specs Today to Enable Tomorrow’s CONs
When you’re building something new — a system, a product, or a bit of deep tech magic — you’re also building its story. The specs you write today don’t just describe what your invention does right now; they set the stage for every future version, upgrade, and continuation that might follow. Think Beyond the First…
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Using Continuations to Add Method, System, and Product Claims
When you file a patent, you’re not just locking in an invention — you’re setting the rules for how others can’t use what you’ve built. But here’s the thing most founders and engineers miss: your first patent application isn’t the end. It’s just the start of something you can build on, expand, and strengthen over…
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From Provisional to CON/CIP: Building a Strong Chain
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…
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Patent Term Impact: How CONs, CIPs, and TDs Affect PTA
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…