IP protection: Safely navigating the long and winding road

On behalf of Kaufhold & Dix Patent Law posted in Patent Law on Thursday, April 26, 2018.

“You have to spend money to make money.” That’s a phrase any budding entrepreneur has likely heard at some point. According to various sources, the line is credited to a Roman poet, philosopher and playwright and dates to several hundred hears before the start of the common era.

Not everyone agrees that it’s true, but the notion clearly has endured the test of time. And it seems to be an appropriate matter in the context of intellectual property. As we have noted in previous posts, a great idea has value. How much value can be hard to gauge, but you can be certain that it erodes quickly if there’s a failure to take the necessary steps to protect it. The question becomes, what’s the best way to do that.

Regardless of what road you take, if you want to make money from your idea, you will need to spend money. The steps for filing and maintaining an average patent alone amount to several thousands of dollars. There are individual fees spread out over a span of years. Misfile an application or miss one benchmark date and you run the risk of loss and of seeing someone else step in to the gap – ready to capitalize on your idea by following the Roman playwright’s adage.

Considering the time and financial commitment involved, it’s understandable if some creators and inventors seek to undertake the intellectual property protection process alone. Alternatively, they might be attracted to those who offer flat fee services without understanding exactly what the fee covers. Only later they find that extra steps in the process have prompted added costs.

Not all firms operate this way. At Kaufhold & Dix Patent Law, the commitment is to provide complete IP service for a known cost before work begins. We invite you to contact us to learn how we can help with your IP concern.