Patently Strategic - Patent Strategy for Startups

We’re slipping our headsets on and heading back into the Metaverse! Earlier this year, we began our foray into this world with a deep dive into the building blocks that could very well form the structural and economic underpinnings of the Metaverse by exploring the tech concepts and IP implications surrounding Web 3.0, blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFTs. Today we build on this, by expanding our conversation into the most likely i...

Word choice matters a great deal in the world of patenting. You’re using the English language to draw a picture around highly technical concepts. The precision with which this is done, down to the semantic level, can make all of the difference when it comes to your patent application being rejected or granted – and the future likelihood of your ability to assert your rights or defend against invalidation. Word choice too narrow or ...

In today’s episode, we’re discussing a recent court decision that judges have said could threaten "most every invention for which a patent has ever been granted", turning the patent system into a "litigation gamble."

Dr. David Jackrel, President of Jackrel Consulting, leads a discussion into American Axle’s recent bid to have the Supreme Court overturn a lower court decision that invalidated the company’s patent in a...

You have your big idea and now it’s time to breathe it into existence, but you need some help with the development. Like many others, you may turn to the aid of an engineering firm or dev shop. This relationship is a marriage of sorts. But it’s a marriage that is designed to inevitably end in divorce! How cleanly, smoothly, and successfully this separation goes depends on the steps that you take before it officially begins.

Both pa...

The life sciences are currently facing at least two major plagues in our patent world. The first is that many life science innovations have been deemed ineligible in terms of patentable subject matter. In other words, the courts and the patent office believe that the patent laws are not meant to protect these innovations. The second plague is that the courts believe that many life sciences patents are not enabled. In other words, t...

“Metaverse” is the buzziest of the buzzwords in tech today and will soon be joining the ranks of “AI” and “ML” as requisite keywords in the next generation of pitch decks and patent applications. But what are the core components of the Metaverse? And what are their implications in the world of intellectual property? The Patently Strategic Podcast will be exploring this topic over the course of several upcoming episodes.

We begin ou...

In this month's episode, our experts help to demystify the concept of Common Ownership and how it can be leveraged to disqualify prior art that might otherwise cause a rejection during prosecution. 

Dr. Ashley Sloat, President and Director of Patent Strategy here at Aurora leads this discussion along with our all star patent panel, digging into Common Ownership exceptions, joint research exceptions, and terminal disclaimer prac...

In this month’s special episode, we’re sharing a great sit down with three very innovative, up-and-coming inventors – as we also launch the next installment of our RISE award. 

We are joined today by:
⦿ Keith Phillips, CEO & Founder of realLINGUA
⦿ Theresa Smith, CTO of the Ola Filter Corporation
⦿ Brendan Wang, Founder of CAPNOS

These inventors share their stories and provide invaluable tips and advice, much learned the hard way. ...

We're officially kicking off our second season and in this month's episode, our experts tackle software patents.

As Silicon Valley engineer and investor Marc Andreessen famously said, “Software is eating the world”. It is central to so much of today’s innovation and the growth potential is off the charts. Five companies, all with software at their core, are worth a quarter of the S&P’s entire market cap. The AI powered ...

What’s actually in a patent? What can you learn from reading one? Where do you even find them? For answers to these critical questions and more, I sat down with Patently Strategic regulars – David Cohen, Principal at Cohen Sciences and Ashley Sloat, President and Director of Patent Strategy here at Aurora. In our discussion, we break down the key anatomy, cut through the terminology, and provide tips on how you can use this informa...

In the US especially, patents are granted to inventors. More often than not, that’s more than one person and the ideas themselves are fluid concepts that often evolve through many handoffs from initial conception through implementation and sometimes even throughout patent prosecution, but how do we determine who all should – and is legally required to be – officially named as an inventor?

In the constitutionally expressed interest ...

Listen in as we discuss the impact of the AIA and the PTAB with inventors gathered as part of the "Decade of Stolen Dreams" rallies, happening in front of regional USPTO offices all across the country, marking the 10 year anniversary of the passage of the America Invents Act – an event described by advocacy groups as the worst event in U.S. patent history.

The inventors and entrepreneurs at the rally we attended, all from di...

In this episode, we take a deep dive into the war games filled world of patent buying and selling. We are joined today by special guest host, Louis Carbonneau, Founder & CEO of Tangible IP. Mr. Carbonneau is a recognized expert in intellectual property with close to 30 years of professional US, Canadian, and international experience in all facets of intellectual property law and business. His firm is the largest brokerage firm ...

You have an idea and you’d like to protect it. But can you? Is it novel? Non-obvious? Would you eventually be able to license or enforce your patent down the road? Who else is competing in this area and where’s the whitespace? If you get the patent, can you freely produce and sell the idea, without the costly risk of infringement litigation?

These questions and the quest for their answers unfold like a detective mystery. The sheer m...

Getting a patent is no quick process. In the time between filing and issuance, your application will go through several stages, often from multiple patent offices and with months or years between stages. The total process can take two to five years and sometimes longer. But who has time for that? Sometimes you need a patent, and you need it fast. Luckily, there are some options for fast tracking your application.

In today’s episode...

Your application just received a final rejection notice from the patent office. Now what? How final is final? The office owes you nothing at this point and without further action, your patent is dead. Good news, though – all may not be lost! Options for resuscitation are limited, but the patient isn’t yet a goner.  

David Jackrel, President of Jackrel Consulting, leads a discussion along with our all star patent panel, digging into ...

​Listen in as our expert panel breaks down Google v Oracle and what it means for the future of software development and fair use. This legal contest has been heralded as the “World Series of IP cases” and the “copyright case of the decade”.

It’s a landmark case, 11 years in the making, between two industry heavyweights – Google, the undisputed king of search and mobile operating system market share, accused of both patent and copyri...

In this inaugural episode, Dr. Ashley Sloat, President & Director of Patent Strategy​ at Aurora Consulting leads a deep dive into the on-sale bar and the trapdoor-esque implications of selling your innovation before filing. Spoiler alert: there are some very sneaky triggers – many types of activities that you might not traditionally think of as sales transactions that can trigger the bar and really jeopardize patentability.

Ashl...