LEGAL PROTECTION FOR YOUR PRODUCT
When Dealing With a New Product, You Should Protect it Any Way You Can.
By James F. Riordan
PART TWO
How do you view patents?
Patents should not be looked at as goals in themselves. Inventors have a tendency to think of the patent as a "badge of achievement," but the real measure of achievement is money in the bank. That is why I like to think of the patent as a marketing tool.
Filing for or purchasing a patent gives you only the right to preclude someone else from making your product without compensating you. THE PATENT ITSELF DOES NOT PROTECT YOU FROM ANYTHING. IT DOES NOT STOP ANYONE FROM MAKING YOUR PRODUCT. IT MERELY GIVES YOU A LICENSE TO SPEND YOUR OWN MONEY TRYING TO PREVENT AN ALLEGED INFRINGER FROM MAKING YOUR PRODUCT WITHOUT PAYING YOU.
Here is an analogy I use to explain this to my clients:
When you obtain a patent, you obtain a handgun to use against infringers. The problem is, you are given an EMPTY handgun. You still need bullets and you need gunpowder. The bullet is your attorney, the gunpowder is your money.
If you have a skilled attorney or law firm, you have an armor piercing bullet. If you have a mismatched or less-than-skilled attorney, you have a rubber bullet. A well-written patent by a skilled attorney adds value to the invention. A poorly-written patent by a less-than-skilled attorney is basically worthless in court.
Riordan's Law states: NEVER TAKE A LESS-THAN-SKILLED LAWYER TO A SKILLED-LAWYER FIGHT.
Seek out skilled patent attorneys and be sure their skills and specialties match the invention's requirements.
NOTE: You should always ask to see their references, or patents that they have completed, those which apply to YOUR product. If they tell you, "That's confidential," tell them, "Baloney, all issued patents are in the public domain." If they still won't produce patents for you to review, you probably have the wrong attorney and you may want to look elsewhere.
If you have a lot of money, you have a lot of gunpowder. If you have little money you have little gunpowder. Riordan's Law states: NEVER TAKE A SMALL QUANTITY OF GUNPOWDER TO A SKILLED-LAWYER FIGHT.
Ideally, with an armor-piercing bullet and lots of gunpowder, you can take a shot at your infringer and make him bleed dollars. Beware, however, the rubber bullet and the little gunpowder combination. Usually there's just enough powder to push the rubber bullet out of the barrel onto the floor where it "grovels about smartly" until its energy is spent (meaning that nothing happens, you lose, and the little money you did have is gone).
In the patent game, you get only as much protection as you can afford. As a result, a patent becomes powerful protection in the hands of a large, well-funded company. However, the same patent may be almost useless as a "real world" form of protection for an individual or small businessperson.
The "little guy" may have to cough up thousands of dollars to "take the first shot" with the handgun he has purchased. For this reason, the small businessperson must regard a patent not so much as a form of real protection, but rather as a "bluffing tool," much the same as a person pointing an empty handgun at a burglar to scare them away.
Sometimes it works...sometimes it doesn't.
The above article was taken from James F. Riordan's classic book, HOW TO EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL FOR SUCCESS OF A NEW PRODUCT OR TECHNOLOGY. Riordan's highly-acclaimed, 36-point system is a valuable tool for inventors, product evaluators or anyone interested in the invention process. Each section is followed by a comprehensive questionnaire that can be used to evaluate your product.
The highly-recommended book can be ordered through the Dream Merchant, 2309 Torrance Blvd., Suite 104, Torrance, CA 90501. The phone number is (310) 328-1925.
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