Posts in Business

The China Road Show is a series of two-day China IP events that the USPTO is hosting across the country to help educate businesses about the realities of piracy and counterfeiting—which cost the American economy approximately $250 billion annually. Day 1 is largely devoted to understanding the patent, trademark and copyright laws in China, as well as enforcement of those rights. Day 2 of the seminar will address § 337 Infringement Investigations by the International Trade Commission (ITC), the challenges presented by counterfeiting and piracy on the Internet and the development of global IP strategies even for small businesses.

Many clients are unaware that the commercial general liability insurance (CGL) policy they hold is not fully protecting their most valuable assets, the ability to sell their products. And, most IP attorneys do not know that IP insurance is available to help fund their client’s IP litigation risks. If a client’s IP becomes involved in litigation, specialized IP Insurance products will help ensure that there are funds available to pay the associated legal expenses. Without specific IP Insurance in place, the client may be left with a less desirable way of protecting their IP assets.

On Friday March 11, 2011, I attended the Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium in honor of Women’s History Month at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The program was co-sponsored by the US Women’s Chamber of Commerce and focused on women entrepreneurs, the importance of intellectual property protection for their innovations, how to leverage economic opportunities for women-owned businesses and what resources are available exclusively for women-owned small businesses. The topics discussed focused solely on American business.

Social Media has quickly become the fastest growing online phenomenon. Originally Social networking was for college students and artists and musicians, but increasingly businesses of all sizes have jumped on the Social Media bus. Small, medium and large sized business, retail storeowners, politicians, journalistic publications, law firms, chain stores, restaurants and businesses from nearly every industry have chimed in. Whether you have a brick and mortar retail location or are solely online, Social Media can help. But as with any business strategy one can partake in, all of your efforts including, time and money are wasted if you do not know what mistakes you should avoid in order to get the most out of your online efforts.

Many people assume that there’s no way American manufacturers can compete with cheap Chinese labor. It’s just basic economics, right? Wrong. It’s the U.S. government’s myopic policy, not China’s lower payroll costs, that make our nation uncompetitive in the all-important solar and other high-tech manufacturing sectors. With manufacturing friendly tax policies and a permanent 20 percent R&D tax credit equal to what other nations offer China’s advantage drops to 1 to 2 percent, and that the U.S. can compete with.

About ten months ago I wrote, The Importance of Having a Web Presence where I discussed why you should have a website, where you can buy your domain name and how to find webhosting services. No matter what type of business you have, whether it be a brick and mortar retail location, a consulting business, a law firm or any other type of business, large or small, you need to have a company website if you are to have any real chance of keeping up with the competition. But what makes a successful website? How can you get consumers past the home page? What do you feature on your website? How do you set it up? Whether you are starting from scratch or simply trying to improve the website that you already have, there are key components that every website should possess, eleven of which I will share with you today.

When asked to name the Social Media Site most widely used by the business community, (in your opinion), I would venture a guess that more often than not people think of LinkedIn. LinkedIn is one of the few non industry specific Social Media venues that is widely utilized by professionals. But there is so much more to LinkedIn than just housing your resume. Since I wrote my series about LinkedIn there has been new capabilities that have emerged and new ways to customize your LinkedIn Profile. You can now even add a list of patents!

It is unfortunate for businesses, but China is becoming practically synonymous with intellectual property theft, piracy and counterfeiting. On top of that, many technology companies are learning that doing licensing deals with the Chinese means they turn over the technologies and as soon as the Chinese corporation is capable of employing the technology the sever the relationship and then compete against American companies with American technology, they just don’t have to recoup the research and development costs and they have a cheap labor force.

My brother-in-law has been a lover of all things Apple for as long as I can remember. In fact, on the first day the iPad was released, he waited in line several hours just to be one of the first people to get one. Every time I would complain about my PC and the issues I was having, he’d inevitably say, “Gotta get a MAC.” First, we got our iPhones. Next, after many hours and probably even days of lost work time, we finally broke down and bought my iMac. And most recently, I received my beloved iPad as a gift, which I quickly realized and am still learning just how essential this tool has become to my business. In fact, with all of the applications available for my iPad, it has replaced my PC laptop. I’ve written articles on Mobile Business and Mobile Social Media apps you can download to your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch to take your business on-the-go. Following is the next installment of my business apps series that can help you take your business on the road with you, make your businesses more efficient and Make Small Businesses Look Bigger.

If you are going to go down the path of blogging for profit or for notoriety you need to have a well developed sense of what your market is interested in when you set out to write. Copying others isn’t likely a winning strategy, but identifying what you like, what you can provide and what you want to do are all essential. Then you need to think about the reader. You know the mantra — know your audience. It is certainly helpful to write what interests you because, in my view, that which you are interested in and passionate about makes for great reading, but it is also important to give readers what they want otherwise you won’t build an audience, or you will lose the audience you do have.

Trade secrets are a very important part of any intellectual property portfolio. It is not at all an overstatement to say that virtually every business has trade secrets worth protection, regardless of whether the business is run as a sole proprietorship, a small business or Fortune 500 company. This is true because any business information that is valuable as a result of being kept secret qualifies for treatment as a trade secret. Nevertheless, it may be better to say that every business has assets that could and should be protected as trade secrets, but the truth is that many companies, even large companies, fail to do so properly.

In early September of 2010, I was given my new favorite toy, an Apple iPad, as a gift. I originally used the iPad to read books, play games and to surf the Internet. However, I have discovered that the iPad is a fantastic business tool as well. Whenever I am away from my office, I take my iPad with me. With the right applications, the iPad has virtually replaced my laptop.

During fiscal year 2009, 596 new companies were formed as a result of university research, which is one more than the 595 formed in 2008 and 41 more than the 555 formed in 2007. The increase, while modest, does come despite a downturn in the U.S. and global economy, proving that even during a down economy good technology and innovation can and does create jobs. The AUTM survey also shows that invention disclosures continue to rise, patent applications are up, and during fiscal year 2009 there was a surprisingly high increase in foreign filings over fiscal year 2008.

As we have seen a drastic increase in our readership over the last few years, IPWatchdog.com has become a full-time endeavor, and as such we are actively seeking advertiser and sponsor partners who can use the visibility we can provide. This will also provide us the ability to do more of what we are already doing, which we seem to have a knack for. So in the spirit of the holidays we thought we’d offer discounted rates good for advertising or sponsorship campaigns initiated or continued during December 2010.

In a recent article, Mobile Business Tools – Social Media Apps for Apple iPad, iPhone & iPod, I discussed the topic of Social Media/Networking applications that are available for download on the iPhone, iPad and iPod that can help you stay connected to your Social Media. There are thousands of other Mobile Business Tools available to you an can be found in multiple different application categories. Following is a guide to several of the more popular Mobile Business Apps that one can use when on the go to essentially take the office with you. Heed my warning, however, once you start using this tools you will never know when to “go home!”