Problems, Solutions, and the Case for Patents
This week, IPWatchdog Unleashed is a different story. As many of you know Eli Mazour is the founder of the Clause 8 podcast, and the podcast is known by its tagline as “the Voice of IP.” Indeed, for years Eli has been just that… the voice of IP… interviewing numerous people in the industry, from Federal Circuit Judges to Chief IP Counsel and political leaders, I even had an opportunity to sit with Eli for a conversation when he first started Clause 8, which we discuss at the start of our conversation.
So, once I started my own podcast it was only natural to sit down with Eli for my own discussion with him, to pick his brain in an unscripted, open-ended conversation. The conversation was a great success. We talked about a lot of things, including patents and innovation. We also discussed the Federal Circuit, why clients need and want patents, as well as patent strategy. You must have a purpose, a goal. You must be addressing a problem that is recognizable with a concrete, real, technical solution. You need to focus on a problem that is important to the client. And while patent strategy and ensuring protection actually protects what the client is selling matters most for those clients who will have several dozen or even several hundred patents, it really matters for everyone.
Sure, with smaller portfolios, each patent needs to really count, but even if you are acquiring patents by the thousands, for those innovating in the standards space, for example, you need to make sure the patent you will get actually reads on the standard, because as Eli and I discuss, a patent that doesn’t read on the standard is worthless. The patents you get must cover something that is going to exist in the real world or at least something that might actually exist in the real world, otherwise there is no point.
And the way you build a strong portfolio, Eli explains, is to “file lots of different original applications… and then once you get one of those patent applications allowed” the question becomes “how do I build a basket of protection” to deal with the inevitable scenario that “somebody’s going to try and invalidate one of these patents.”
To hear this entire conversation, listen wherever you get your podcasts (links here) or visit IPWatchdog Unleashed on Buzzsprout.
Gene Quinn
Gene Quinn is an expert on patent law, innovation policy and patent law. Mr. Quinn was twice named as one of the 50 most influential people in the world
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