Protect Your Ideas Before You Share Them

What if one casual conversation cost you your patent? We sit down with Attorney Daniel Scola, managing partner at Hoffmann and Barron LLP, to unpack how innovators can protect ideas, avoid irreversible mistakes, and build an IP strategy that actually supports growth. From patents and trademarks to copyrights and trade secrets, Daniel breaks down the plain-English basics while sharing hard-won lessons from healthcare, pharmaceuticals, industrial tech, and software.

You’ll hear the eye-opening story of a stolen polymer formulation that sparked his career, and why public disclosure without an NDA can shut the door on protection in most countries and start the clock in the United States. Daniel explains when to use a provisional patent, how to align claims with what customers value, and why investors care about IP only when paired with a credible business plan, target market, and go-to-market motion. We also dig into the subtle art of client trust: giving useful advice before the pitch, leveraging referrals over ads, and focusing on senior-level attention that saves time and money.

If you’re a founder, product leader, or creator weighing whether to file, you’ll come away with clear next steps: document your invention, secure confidentiality, map markets before claims, and choose between patents and trade secrets based on how your advantage is built and protected. Along the way, Daniel’s love of music and mentoring adds warmth to a topic that too often feels opaque or intimidating. Protect smart, file at the right time, and turn your intellectual property into a real competitive edge.

Enjoyed the conversation? Follow the show, share this with a friend building something new, and leave a quick review to help more neighbors discover stories that move ideas forward.

For more information visit HBIPLaw.com.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, GarfieldBowen.

SPEAKER_02 (00:21):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a law firmfor intellectual property?
Well, one may be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing the managing
partner, Daniel Scolo, withHoffman and Barron LLP.
Daniel, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01 (00:40):
Doing great, Garfield.
I appreciate your having me on.

SPEAKER_02 (00:44):
Listen, we're excited to learn all about you
and your practice.
Tell us about your firm.

SPEAKER_01 (00:49):
Yeah, sure.
So Hoffman Barron is uh is aspecialty law firm.
We deal only in intellectualproperty matters.
So that entails things likepatents, copyrights, trade
secrets, uh trademarks.
It's basically the protection ofideas.
So when people have ideas andthey want to protect them in

(01:11):
some form, uh usually it's sometangible form, um, that's our
business.
And you know, there'sintellectual property in almost
everything that people sell andin many processes that you know
and and uh things people do.
So it's all around you,surrounds you.

SPEAKER_02 (01:27):
Yeah, we have everybody here as an
entrepreneur watching SharkTank.
They gotta protect the ideas,right?

SPEAKER_01 (01:32):
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 (01:33):
Absolutely.
So so tell me, how do you getinto this particular business?

SPEAKER_01 (01:38):
Well, it's really interesting.
I can tell you my story.
Uh when I was young, my dad wasuh was a scientist, and I saw
him develop many things thatwere patentable.
And one of the things hedeveloped was this uh artificial
marble, basically.
It was a plastic, you know,polyester type things, and you
see them a lot now.
They make them out of artificialsinks, you know, they're you

(01:59):
know, and these uh drop-in typebathtubs, and though those are
all made out of polymer, youknow, polymer materials instead
of ceramic materials.
And he went to a uh and he hadme working on these in my in his
basement, you know, during thesummer, his programs, developing
the formulas and stuff.
And he went to a large company,and they were extremely

(02:21):
interested in the manufacturinggroup, and he brought all his
notebooks with him.
And when he left, they had gonethrough his briefcase and took
the key formulation notebookthat he had explained to them
while he was there, and hedidn't realize it because he had
something like 15 notebooks thathe went, and you know, he didn't
have the knowledge or thewherewithal or even the money to

(02:43):
actually go after them.
But that company ended upmanufacturing his formulation,
and they made these thesedrop-in bathtubs and artificial
sinks that look just likemarble, um, but they're a lot
less expensive, and and theymade a big business out of it.
And I said, you know, to him,boy, that's not fair.
You know, you really ought to dosomething about it.
But it got me interested in howdo I help people protect their

(03:04):
ideas and how do I uh go aboutlearning that sort of business.
And because I was a sciencemajor as well in college, uh, I
was a chemistry major, um, Idecided to go to law school.
And if you're gonna be anintellectual property attorney
and you deal with patents, youhave to have a science degree
because you have to take aseparate bar, not just a state

(03:27):
bar like New Jersey orMassachusetts, but there's a
federal bar that they make youtake in order to deal with the
United States Patent Office,which is an agency, so it's a
separate bar example.
So there's a higher level, but Iwanted to do that's how I got
into it.
Um, but I deal with so manyinteresting people, like you
know, not just the people thathave, well, I have a better, you

(03:50):
know, kitchen tool or I I have abetter way of, you know, my
lawnmower could could workbetter.
And those are great ideas alone,but I deal with uh a lot of you
know cutting edge science peoplelike in pharmaceutical companies
with new drugs, medical devicecompanies with new medical
devices.
Uh I I'm a do a lot in thehealthcare, but also in the
industrial area.

(04:11):
Um, you know, there's so manyIT, you know, all these things
have uh all these ideas havepatent or trademark or copyright
protection that you can get.
Um and it gives you a monopolyfor the period of time that it
lasts, which is a competitiveedge.

SPEAKER_02 (04:28):
This is a fascinating topic.
Um, but what are one or twomisconceptions uh in terms of
people trying to considerwhether they need to have
something protected or not?

SPEAKER_01 (04:41):
Well, it's a great question, uh, because there are
a lot of misconceptions.
But I I will tell you the onemistake that people think um or
make, I should say, is they comeup with an idea and they think,
oh gosh, I I better run thisidea by other people because I
think it's a good idea.
Maybe other people don't thinkit's a good idea.

(05:03):
So they do that, first of all,and so they disclose their idea
without having a confidentialityagreement in place.
Well, that's going to destroytheir rights in most countries,
and it starts the clock in theUnited States running.
So you might not be able to getit in the United States or
anywhere else, because once it'sin the public domain, you can't
get a monopoly on something inthe public domain.

(05:25):
So that's one misconception thatpeople have.
Well, I'll share my idea and seeif everybody likes it.
Not a good start, and manycompanies fail because of that,
uh, because they can't get thepatent protection, which gives
them the competitive edge.
The other mistake that I seehappen a lot is they they do um

(05:46):
think that once they develop theidea and we get it patented,
that it's gonna be simple.
You know, it's people are justgonna buy it, it's gonna fly off
the shelf.
If they don't have a goodbusiness plan in place and a
marketing plan that actually canreach out to the right audience,
it's gonna be difficult for themto really make any ground.

(06:10):
And the patent will getinvestment because people want
to invest, because it gives themsome certainty that there's a
protection around it, right?
You can keep people out of thisarea, but you have to be able to
market it.
So you got to think in advance.
Well, what's my business plan?
And so I always ask people look,I can do the legal work for you,

(06:31):
but you're the expert in thatbusiness, or you should be.
Develop a plan while we're doingthis, you know?
Because people, investors wantto see, oh, what's the plan?
What's your business plan?
What's what's gonna happen withthis if I invest in this?
Uh so that's those are the twobig mistakes I see people making
or misconceptions.

SPEAKER_02 (06:50):
Kind of segue into my next question.
We all know that marketing isthe heart of every business.
Um, how do you find these peoplethat need patents uh with Roper?

SPEAKER_01 (07:03):
Well, you know, it's interesting.
I do I do uh do public relationwork, but a lot of my business
comes from doing a really goodjob from for uh on something for
a company.
I do a lot of startups, a lot ofmid-sized companies, I do a lot
of Fortune 500, and I doindividuals as well.
But um it really comes fromreferrals for the most part and

(07:27):
public relations.
Like people will see your name,but they won't really
understand, you know, what doesit really mean and connect it?
But someone will say, you reallyshould use this person because
he gives you a very fair,cost-effective price.
He gives you personalizedattention, which I mean that's a
word everyone will say they giveyou, but in larger firms, it

(07:47):
it's not possible because it'stheir platform and their
business model doesn't allow forthat in order for them to make
money.
So they push it down to thelower level of people who don't
really understand, they don'thave the experience enough to
really give you efficient work.
Where I have a different model.
Um, my model is that I don'twant to push it too far down, I

(08:10):
want to have a backup that hasalmost the same experience as I
do, not as much, but almost thesame.
But can I can can bill them outof the lower level?
So I can get cost efficiency,but they still get the high
level attention.
So it's it's I don't spend a lotof money on marketing per se,
like ads and things like that.
I rely on a word of mouth, uh, Igo and meet people, I do

(08:34):
podcasts.
I, you know, Garfield, I thinkit's really important to have
uh, and the younger generationdoes this less, right?
I mean, I'm I've been around alittle bit longer than some of
these people that are going intoit, obviously.
But unless you have an ecosystemof trusted people that you that
they trust you and you trustthem, there's really no

(08:57):
motivation for them to help youbecause they don't know you.
Oh, you you know, they want arelationship.
So if you can develop arelationship, and and it doesn't
come right away.
You know, you don't meet someoneand say, hey, I'm a I'm a great
patent attorney.
That that doesn't get youanywhere.
What you do is you learnsomething about the person,

(09:17):
about the business.
I think it's important that youdon't pitch, but rather find out
what people's needs are.
That's my approach.
I find out what their needs are,and then I give them
suggestions.
You know, perhaps you can trythis or perhaps you can try
that.
If they have an attorney, I'llsay, has your attorney tried

(09:38):
this?
If he hasn't, maybe you can tellhim to try this.
And I give them something forfree because I want them to know
I know what I'm doing, so but Idon't have to pitch them
directly.
I want them to know that I'mwilling to give them something
before I'm asking for something.
And I want to create a realrelationship of trust.

(09:58):
So, you know, that's basicallyhow I do my marketing.

SPEAKER_02 (10:03):
I I spent a summer summer with a gentleman who
actually he um his job wasimproving patents.
He worked from home, and I wasjust picking his brain all the
time, just really fascinatedwith it.
And the whole topic is sofascinating.
You're here today on my show,but have you ever thought about
doing your your your ownpodcast?

SPEAKER_01 (10:24):
You know, Garfield, I have.
Um, and I would do itdifferently than any other
podcast I've seen out there onon IP.
One of the things they do notteach you in law school, and I
was just talking to someoneyesterday at a at a at a uh uh
continuing legal educationactually course that we're all
required to take.
So I was there for most of theday, and I I was sitting down uh

(10:48):
next to some uh law students whowere going there because they
just had such an interest andwanted to, you know, have a
career in this area.
And um they said, you know, onething they don't teach in law
school is they don't teach thebusiness aspect of anything.
It's usually just, you know,here's here's different areas of

(11:09):
law that you should know.
But but when you go out andyou're trying to get clients,
you have to know something aboutbusiness and something about
people.
Because without being able tocommunicate well with people, I
don't care how good you are atwhat you do, if people don't
want to work with you, it's notgonna work.

(11:30):
It's it's really about that.
So I would teach, you know,pressing the flesh more, I would
teach, try to get as much youknow, personal contact with
people.
You know, if you can't go there,then chat on the phone, hear
their voice, do a do some sortof a live stream, something like
this.
But the more contact you have,the more trust you build, the

(11:54):
more you know you know abouteach other, and that helps, you
know, it sort of ingratiatesboth of you into a business
relationship that's not taughtin law school.
And that my my podcast would gointo some of that detail if I
were to do one.

SPEAKER_02 (12:10):
So, Daniel, when you're not so busy running your
practice, what do you like to dofor fun?

SPEAKER_01 (12:16):
Oh, okay.
That's a good question.
So, well, I like to do a lot ofactive stuff, you know.
I I I've always you know like towork out and I I kind of like to
play little golf.
I'm I'm I'm pretty terrible, butI I still enjoy it.
Uh, and I like to ski.
But my real love has always beenmusic.
And I have uh a daughter that'suh a pretty pretty well-known uh

(12:40):
musician.
She writes for a lot of the uhpeople that you would know, like
uh Justin Beaver and Ava Levanand um and a lot of uh other
well-known artists, and she wasGrammy nominated.
So she's done fellow, but musichas always been my love for my
dad said to me, Hey, I can't payfor music school because I don't

(13:02):
think it's gonna work out in theend.
It's so hard to make money,yeah.
And uh and he said, I'll I'llhelp you if you go into
something that makes sense.
That this is old schoolthinking.
Now, so I became, he's achemist.
I became a chemist.
Okay, so there you have it.
But I didn't do that to my to toeither of my daughters, and

(13:23):
they're both very good at music.
But um music is I do a lot ofwriting.
I do sometimes I'll perform withmy my daughters at it's at
places.
You know, I'm a I'm a pianistand a and a percussionist by by
trade, but uh that's that's whatI do, you know.
I like that.

SPEAKER_02 (13:38):
Okay, we're we're about out of time, but um one
last thing I want you to leavewith our listeners today is if
there was this one thing theyshould remember about Hoffman
and Barron LLP, what would thatone thing be?

SPEAKER_01 (13:53):
I think that you you would be very happy with the
kind of uh you know advice onhow to protect your ideas, even
if we don't engage, you will getsomething out of it.
We'll give you some direction towhat to know whether you should
continue to try to work on thatidea or not.
And if you do engage with us, itit'll be not just fun, you

(14:15):
you'll get you'll get somethingout of it in terms of I think
return if you can sell your yourproducts and your processes.
Yeah.

unknown (14:21):
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (14:22):
My listeners now have one thing on their mind
right now, is how?
How can I get more informationabout Hoffman and Barron L O P.

SPEAKER_01 (14:30):
Okay, well, the best thing probably would just to,
you know, I'm on LinkedIn, soit's Daniel Scola, but Hoffman
and Barron is Hoffman uh Barronis the name of the firm, and
it's HBIPLAW.com or Hoffman andBarron.com.
You can get to the website andum, you know, it's it's there.

(14:51):
You'll find lots of informationand there's numbers to call.
And um, you know, would love tohelp anybody out, anybody out
there that really uh said has aninterest.

SPEAKER_02 (15:00):
For those of us that want to hit the numbers on the
phone, is there a number youlike to share?

SPEAKER_01 (15:05):
Yeah, it's uh you can you can call um uh my my
cell because I use my cell alot, 862-812-9841.
Uh, or you can call the firmnumber 973-331-1700, and that's
the the firm number.

SPEAKER_02 (15:23):
Listen, Daniel, it's been a pleasure having you on
the show.
I wish you and your business thevery best moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 (15:28):
Uh, thanks, Garfield.
I appreciate it.
It's been a pleasure.

SPEAKER_00 (15:34):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
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