I presented this week on the topic of Patent Strategy for Startups and Early Stage Ventures. We spent a short time talking about IP from the business side, specifically why early stage ventures need to consider IP at their incubation stage, and then some practical tools on timing and planning to think about.

There is always plenty of discussion when it comes to this topic, particularly when startups are faced with budget, market and resource restrictions. Throw in the pro-patent lobbyist and the open-innovation champions and it becomes even more confusing to workout what the right direction should be for your venture. Whatever the decision, not everything can be done to cover IP or reduce the business risk that comes with it. However when it comes to IP it is always easier to decide NOT to do it at this stage of the venture due to resources, then wait until it was too late and wish you had at least made that “no” decision – at the very least when saying “no” it gives the options to plan for the future implications of that choice.

Sometimes the best IP Strategy plan is to say ‘we have no plan to file any patents,’ but then as a result ensure we are prepared in other ways to address the business issues that come with this decision.

I will do a follow-up post in the next few weeks on IP for Startups, and give some additional details on pitfalls and success points for new ventures.

I have attached the slides below. Feel free to reach out if you want to get more details.