Let’s look at the two scariest patent searches! An inventor should run two different types of patent searches, and mixing them up is a huge mistake that can cost millions.

1. Patentability Search: Answers the question, "Is my invention new enough to get a patent?" To be granted a patent, an invention must be both novel and non-obviousness. This is the search that investigates those issues. It also looks at whether the subject matter is patentable, but that’s often something a patent attorney can advise you about before you have this search done.

2. Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) Search: Answers the question, "Can I legally sell this product without being sued?" This search looks at active patents whose rights are still enforceable to see if your invention contains components or processes that any of those patents protect, and to see whether your invention is committing infringement by including those parts or processes. This kind of search is much more expensive than a patentability search, and that’s because the level of detail and time necessary to do the search and analysis of results are much more extensive. It’s still less expensive than infringement litigation, however.

The Lesson: Getting a patent is risky if you haven't done a freedom-to-operate search. Don't rely on the USPTO to check for infringement; that's ultimately your responsibility. Always get a freedom-to-operate search before you invest in manufacturing to ensure your path to market is clear!

Intellectual property is one of the most terrifyingly useful tools you have. If you’re a creator or other entrepreneur ready to build a frighteningly powerful brand and business, you need to know how to use it.

You don't have to face the darkness alone. To learn more about protecting your creations, your name, your business, and your legacy, you can book a consultation with me at kingpatentlaw.com. I help entrepreneurs across the U.S. make smart, legally sound decisions about their intellectual property. I'm an attorney in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and I serve intellectual property clients nationwide.

If this episode helped you survive the horror of learning about how to protect and manage your intellectual property and business, please like and subscribe! You can find all of my other frighteningly good content on the King Patent Law website, at "Know Your Rights: Your IP and Business Law Playbook" on all major podcast platforms, and at @kingpatentlaw on most social media.

The information provided in this episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or form an attorney-client relationship. You should not act on any information presented here without first seeking the counsel of a licensed attorney for your specific legal needs.

#kingpatentlaw #julieking #intellectualproperty #patent #freedomtoperate #patentsearch #patentability

Welcome, innovators, to a critical lesson that separates successful patent entrepreneurs from those whose patents collect dust. I’m Julie King, and today I’m revealing the terrifying truth that owning a patent does not automatically give you the right to sell your invention.

You see, a patent is a legal shield, a right to exclude, not a sword you can wield freely in the marketplace.

In this episode:

• The Patent Paradox: A Shield, Not a Green Light (0:25)
• The Horror of Overlapping Patents (0:53)
• Example: The Patented Battery Case Nightmare (1:15)
• How to Avoid Accidental Infringement: Your Freedom-to-Operate Checklist (1:50)
• Beyond Legal Clearance: The Manufacturing and Marketing Battlefield (including overseas issues) (3:17)
• The Silent Killer: Market Apathy (4:34)
• The Bottom Line (5:55)

Owning a patent is an achievement, but it's only the first step. Before you invest in manufacturing, invest in a Freedom-to-Operate analysis. Protect your invention from your competitors and protect your business from accidental infringement. Make sure the patent application is likely worth the investment of time and money by doing careful market research.

Want to make sure your invention is market-ready? Consult with a patent attorney to assess the legal landscape before you invest in manufacturing and sales. They can also advise you about how to protect your invention’s secrecy when you work with market research experts, so your work with them doesn’t cause legal headaches.

Intellectual property is one of the most terrifyingly useful tools you have. If you’re a creator or other entrepreneur ready to build a frighteningly powerful brand and business, you need to know how to use it.

You don't have to face the darkness alone. To learn more about protecting your creations, your name, your business, and your legacy, you can book a consultation with me at kingpatentlaw.com. I help entrepreneurs across the U.S. make smart, legally sound decisions about their intellectual property. I'm an attorney in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and I serve intellectual property clients nationwide.

If this episode helped you survive the horror of learning about how to protect and manage your intellectual property and business, please like and subscribe! You can find all of my other frighteningly good content on the King Patent Law website, at "Know Your Rights: Your IP and Business Law Playbook" on all major podcast platforms, and at @kingpatentlaw on most social media.

The information provided in this episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or form an attorney-client relationship. You should not act on any information presented here without first seeking the counsel of a licensed attorney for your specific legal needs.

#kingpatentlaw #julieking #intellectualproperty #patent

Be careful not to let your trade secrets die with you, or you may accidentally kill your business. If you have a proprietary formula, customer list, or algorithm that gives you your competitive edge, it’s not registered with the government. Its protection relies entirely on secrecy and contracts.

The Horror can be that since there is no government registration, if the owner dies unexpectedly, and the secret formula only exists in their head, written down somewhere no one can find it, or on a single encrypted hard drive no one can access, the entire value of the business can disappear. If there’s no way for the estate’s executor or trustee to retrieve and protect the secret, the core value of the company can vanish overnight.

The Solution is to have a trade secret succession plan.

1. For Individuals: Create a secure, sealed protocol that names a trusted successor/trustee who can access the secret only upon documented events, such as death or incapacity.

2. For Businesses: Explicitly name the trade secret as an asset in the operating agreement, bylaws, or shareholder agreement (but don’t reveal what it is in those documents); make sure the proper trustworthy business partners or successors know where and how to access the trade secret; and mandate strict confidentiality protocols for all partners and employees.

Intellectual property is one of the most terrifyingly useful tools you have. If you're a creator or other entrepreneur ready to build a frighteningly powerful brand, you need to know how to use it.

You don't have to face the darkness alone. To learn more about protecting your creations, your name, your business, and your legacy, you can book a consultation with me at kingpatentlaw.com.

I help entrepreneurs across the U.S. make smart, legally sound decisions about their intellectual property. I'm an attorney in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and I serve intellectual property clients nationwide.

If this episode helped you survive the horror of learning about how to protect and manage your intellectual property and business, please like and subscribe!

You can find all of my other frighteningly good content on the King Patent Law website, at "Know Your Rights: Your IP and Business Law Playbook " on all major podcast platforms, and at @kingpatentlaw on most social media.

The information provided in this episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or form an attorney-client relationship. You should not act on any information presented here without first seeking the counsel of a licensed attorney for your specific legal needs.

#kingpatentlaw #julieking #intellectualproperty #tradesecret #businesstips #estateplanning #horror #halloween #spookyseason

Fatal mistakes are often made when people unfamiliar with patent and trademark law leave that kind of intellectual property to people in their will or when they inherit it.

At the Mountains of Madness: A Vague Will.

“’All patents,” “all trademarks,” or “all intellectual property” owned by me may sound like a great clause to have in a will. It’s better than nothing, yes, and fine as a catch-all in case you don’t update your documents in time with more detailed information, but it really can leave a maddening mess for the executor or trustee of your estate. The way to keep them from cursing your name is to specify by registration number exactly which patents and trademarks are involved. That’s because the USPTO, the agency that registers patents and trademarks in the US, as well as international agencies that handle international patents and trademarks, require documentation to officially transfer the ownership rights to the registrations. That’s MUCH easier to handle if specific registration numbers are in the will or trust.

Creature from the USPTO: Official Assignments

Speaking of those documents transferring ownership that need to be registered with the USPTO and perhaps international agencies, those are documents most people aren’t aware need to be filed. Even some estate administration lawyers who don’t have much experience with intellectual property can be unaware of this requirement.

Official assignments of ownership must be filed with the USPTO and any international agencies that apply in order for ownership of the patent or trademark registrations to fully transfer to the new owner. Without that official transfer, it can be hard to enforce the rights that come with the registration.

This doesn’t just matter when your estate is being administered. It matters while you’re alive as well. If you put your patent or trademark registration in a trust, you need to record an assignment of ownership. If you sell or transfer your ownership to your business, you need to record an assignment of ownership then, too. As I mentioned before, the more specific the assignment is regarding identifying the intellectual property, preferably with registration numbers and other identifying information, the easier the assignment will be to prove and enforce.

Specificity and proper recording of transfer documents are the silver bullets to stop the monster of probate horror when it comes to registered intellectual property.

Intellectual property is one of the most terrifyingly useful tools you have. If you're a creator or other entrepreneur ready to build a frighteningly powerful brand, you need to know how to use it.

You don't have to face the darkness alone. To learn more about protecting your creations, your name, your business, and your legacy, you can book a consultation with me at kingpatentlaw.com.

I help entrepreneurs across the U.S. make smart, legally sound decisions about their intellectual property. I'm an attorney in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and I serve intellectual property clients nationwide.

If this episode helped you survive the horror of learning about how to protect and manage your intellectual property and business, please like and subscribe!

You can find all of my other frighteningly good content on the King Patent Law website, at "Know Your Rights: Your IP and Business Law Playbook " on all major podcast platforms, and at @kingpatentlaw on most social media.

The information provided in this episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or form an attorney-client relationship. You should not act on any information presented here without first seeking the counsel of a licensed attorney for your specific legal needs.

#kingpatentlaw #julieking #intellectualproperty #patent #trademark #businesstips #estateplanning #horror #halloween #spookyseason

The patent clock keeps ticking after you die! A utility patent is a time-sensitive asset. If you own the patent rights to your invention, you must make sure it’s managed properly after your death. Even if your heirs successfully inherit the patent, if they don't know how to manage it, the rights may die a premature death.

The Horror is that heirs unfamiliar with the invention and the patent protecting it often forget to pay the mandatory maintenance fees to the USPTO, or they fail to defend the patent against an infringer. The patent lapses, and years of potential revenue are lost forever.

The Solution isn’t to haunt your heirs into doing the right thing. It’s taking care while you’re among the living to have your will or trust designate a manager for the patent rights. This should be someone with the technical and legal ability to manage the patent, not just someone to receive the royalty checks.

To keep living beyond your death, a successful patent needs a competent manager, not just an heir.

Intellectual property is one of the most terrifyingly useful tools you have. If you're a creator or other entrepreneur ready to build a frighteningly powerful brand, you need to know how to use it.

You don't have to face the darkness alone. To learn more about protecting your creations, your name, your business, and your legacy, you can book a consultation with me at kingpatentlaw.com.

I help entrepreneurs across the U.S. make smart, legally sound decisions about their intellectual property. I'm an attorney in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and I serve intellectual property clients nationwide.

If this episode helped you survive the horror of learning about how to protect and manage your intellectual property and business, please like and subscribe!

You can find all of my other frighteningly good content on the King Patent Law website, at "Know Your Rights: Your IP and Business Law Playbook " on all major podcast platforms, and at @kingpatentlaw on most social media.

The information provided in this episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or form an attorney-client relationship. You should not act on any information presented here without first seeking the counsel of a licensed attorney for your specific legal needs.

#kingpatentlaw #julieking #intellectualproperty #patent #businesstips #estateplanning #horror #halloween #spookyseason

Not having provisions about control of your business’ intellectual property in your business operating documents is a grave mistake in intellectual property protection.

When one of the owners of a business dies, their ownership share is handled by their estate planning documents and the business’ operating documents, such as an LLC’s operating agreement or a corporation’s bylaws and shareholder agreement.

Why does it matter what the operating documents say about the ownership interest that gets inherited? If the documents aren’t clear that only financial interests and not voting or management interests are inherited, or insist that the heirs to the interest sell the interest back to the business, serious trouble with business management, including management of the business’ intellectual property, can occur.

If voting or management rights transfer to the heirs, they can be, essentially, zombie co-owners, whose lack of participation or refusal to cooperate with the other owners can completely hamstring the business when it comes to handling its intellectual property.

The Horror is that the remaining owners can't make key decisions, like licensing a patent or selling the brand, because the new, often inexperienced co-owner has to agree.

The Solution is to have one of two provisions in place:

1. A mandatory Buy-Sell Clause that compels the company to purchase the deceased member's ownership share (often funded by life insurance).

2. A Silent Partner Clause that says that upon the death of an owner/member/shareholder, only economic interests transfer, not voting rights or management rights, making the heir able to receive the financial benefit of ownership but not allowing them to interfere with the operation of the business.

These provisions ensure the management of the business’ intellectual property continues smoothly after you’ve gone.

Intellectual property is one of the most terrifyingly useful tools you have. If you're a creator or other entrepreneur ready to build a frighteningly powerful brand, you need to know how to use it.

You don't have to face the darkness alone. To learn more about protecting your creations, your name, your business, and your legacy, you can book a consultation with me at kingpatentlaw.com. I help entrepreneurs across the U.S. make smart, legally sound decisions about their intellectual property. I'm an attorney in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and I serve intellectual property clients nationwide.

You can find all of my other frighteningly good content on the King Patent Law website, at "Know Your Rights: Your IP and Business Law Playbook" on all major podcast platforms, and at @kingpatentlaw on most social media.

The information provided in this episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or form an attorney-client relationship. You should not act on any information presented here without first seeking the counsel of a licensed attorney for your specific legal needs.

#kingpatentlaw #julieking #intellectualproperty #patent #trademark #tradesecret #businesstips #estateplanning #horror #halloween #spookyseason

35 years is a special time for copyrights created after 1978. A right emerges from lurking in the shadows. Importantly, that right can transfer to whoever inherits your original copyright rights.

This copyright jump scare is the termination provision in the 1976 Copyright Act that allows creators who transferred their copyright rights to someone else to reclaim those rights, even if they were assigned permanently. This is how Friday the 13th screenwriter Victor Miller successfully reclaimed his rights to the original script! I talked more about that in an episode a couple of years ago.

Thirty-five years after the transfer, and for a period of five years after that, the creator, or their heirs, can reclaim their copyright rights.

There are some strict rules to follow. Notice to the grantee and the Copyright Office of the intent to revert the rights must be in writing and must be made no more than 10 years before the 35-year period starts, and no more than two years before the five-year reversion rights period ends.

This reversion opportunity doesn’t apply to works for hire or transfers of rights made through a will.

Even if you bought a creator's work "forever," they, or their legal heirs, can get a mandatory second bite at the apple.

Intellectual property is one of the most terrifyingly useful tools you have. If you're a creator or other entrepreneur ready to build a frighteningly powerful brand, you need to know how to use it.

You don't have to face the darkness alone. To learn more about protecting your creations, your name, your business, and your legacy, you can book a consultation with me at kingpatentlaw.com.

I help entrepreneurs across the U.S. make smart, legally sound decisions about their intellectual property. I'm an attorney in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and I serve intellectual property clients nationwide.

If this episode helped you survive the horror of learning about how to protect and manage your intellectual property and business, please like and subscribe!

You can find all of my other frighteningly good content on the King Patent Law website, at "Know Your Rights: Your IP and Business Law Playbook " on all major podcast platforms, and at @kingpatentlaw on most social media.

The information provided in this episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or form an attorney-client relationship. You should not act on any information presented here without first seeking the counsel of a licensed attorney for your specific legal needs.

#kingpatentlaw #julieking #intellectualproperty #copyright #businesstips #estateplanning #horror #halloween #spookyseason

What’s the intellectual property horror lurking in the closet that gets overlooked the most? Welcome to the final, and perhaps most terrifying, week of Spooky Season. We’ve talked about how patents, trademarks, and trade dress are all massive business assets. But too often, people spend a good deal of time and money protecting those assets, but then they leave their future value to chance.

I'm talking about the Grave Truth of Succession. Your intellectual property does not die with you. The question is: Will it transfer smoothly to the right person or entity, or will it be tied up in probate hell? When an IP owner dies, some of their most valuable intangible assets, their patents, their trademarks, can become legally trapped, or worse, split between co-owners who can't agree, sucking the value right out of the business. You need a plan, or your legacy may become a legal horror story.

In this episode:

• Let the Right One In: Individual vs. Entity Ownership (1:01)
• The Nightmare on Patent Inheritance Street (2:01)
• Night of the Living Dead Trademark (4:15)
• The Phantom of the Lost Trade Secret (7:04)
• Your Silver Bullet: Planning and Documentation (8:48)

Your IP is your legacy. Plan for its succession, or it could be buried forever.

Intellectual property is one of the most terrifyingly useful tools you have. If you're a creator or other entrepreneur ready to build a frighteningly powerful brand, you need to know how to use it.

You don't have to face the darkness alone. To learn more about protecting your creations, your name, your business, and your legacy, you can book a consultation with me at kingpatentlaw.com. I help entrepreneurs across the U.S. make smart, legally sound decisions about their intellectual property. I'm an attorney in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and I serve intellectual property clients nationwide.

If this episode helped you survive the horror of learning about how to protect and manage your intellectual property and business, please like and subscribe! You can find all of my other frighteningly good content on the King Patent Law website, at "Know Your Rights: Your IP and Business Law Playbook" on all major podcast platforms, and at @kingpatentlaw on most social media.

The information provided in this episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or form an attorney-client relationship. You should not act on any information presented here without first seeking the counsel of a licensed attorney for your specific legal needs.

#kingpatentlaw #julieking #intellectualproperty #patent #trademark #tradesecrets #estateplanning #businesstips #brand #branding #horror #halloween #spookyseason