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The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Of Software Patents

Startup Professionals Musings

I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. The good news is that a patent can scare off or at least delay competitors, and as a “rule of thumb” patents can add up to $1M to your startup valuation for investors or M&A exits (merger and acquisition).

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Software Patents Have Become a Startup Nightmare

Startup Professionals Musings

I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. This patent holding company has charged infringement and demanded royalties from every app developer for the iPhone and Android, for a feature most agree has been in apps for many years.

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Software Patents are Becoming a Tax on Innovation

Startup Professionals Musings

I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. The bad news is that patent trolls can squeeze the lifeblood out of innocent and unsuspecting entrepreneurs, as exemplified by the current mess around Lodsys patent No.

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The Audacious Plan to Make Electricity as Easy as WiFi

Both Sides of the Table

Today I’m handing her the largest A-round check I’ve ever written as a VC as we lead her $10 million A-Round at uBeam. As I’ve written about recently, at Upfront Ventures we started talking a couple of years ago about wanting to fund stuff with more meaning. Was there consumer demand? No brainer.

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6 Guidelines On How And When To Use Non-Disclosures

Startup Professionals Musings

Get an NDA before detailed patent disclosures. Entrepreneurs should never disclose the details of a planned or current patent application to any outsiders, until after a non-disclosure or other contract has been signed. Some entrepreneurs avoid the patent process, since patent details become public once a patent is issued.

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Thanks to our sponsors!

socalTECH

We Create Demand for California's Technology Companies. and international patent and trademark procurement - IP Litigation - IP Licenses and Agreements: distribution, development, joint venture - Intellectual property aspects of mergers and acquisitions. Backing Southern California's next great technology companies.

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Interview with Matthew Jenusaitis, OCTANe

socalTECH

The demand for our products and services is really high, unemployment is high, the need for new technology is high, as is the need to increase efficiency from businesses. However, our challenge is that there are not a lot of venture capital investors in Southern California. Thanks for the time this morning.

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