Last January, I announced my retirement from Intellectual Property and Finance. I pursued a new enterprise and launched a franchise company, but the patent industry continued to call me throughout the year. I felt like Michael Corleone in Godfather 3, "every time I tried to get it out, they pulled me back in."
At first, it was a couple of old clients. And then a client went bankrupt, and I was threatened with being subpoenaed for files. After that, a few IP financiers needed help, the US Inventors called, and then the next thing I knew, I was scheduled to speak at the US Inventor conference in Washington DC, which took place last weekend. I have been to too many IP conferences to count in my career (20 at least), but never before have I had a conference start out with lobbying legislatures on the unintended consequences of a landmark legislative act, in this case, the American Invents Act (AIA).
The AIA's unintended consequences for individual and small entity inventors have been brutal and cruel. The US Inventor conference was filled with devastated and traumatized inventors who have had their inventions invalidated through the AIA's invalidation process. Of those inventors who have not been invalidated, the choice to enforce against infringers becomes an almost impossible decision. The uncertainty of the patent system has eroded individual and small inventors' desires to chase their dreams. Abraham Lincoln stated that the patent system “added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius.” The myth and lore of the individual American Inventor became bigger because of Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, the Wright Brothers, and many more individual inventors who build businesses on the protections afforded by the US patent system, but that system is long gone now.
The Patented Inventorship dream slowly imploding on itself, as evident in the tragic stories of inventors whose inventions have been invalidated by the @USPTO's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) . At a conference of nearly 150 people, nearly all of whom were inventors, the stories of invalidation were overwhelming.
It doesn't have to be that way. With the right strategy, inventors can navigate the system and monetize their IP, but it takes careful planning.
I cannot help everyone's patent situation, but I can provide a few strategic ideas about what your next steps are. If you own patents and are curious about how to best monetize the patents, reach out to me at mmoyers@peakvalueip.com
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