In this month’s episode, we’re talking about patent marking – and its massive implications on your ability to collect on infringement damages.

We’ve all seen patent numbers on physical products. Much like their copyright and trademark cousins, these designations are far from cosmetic. And instead serve a statutory requirement to provide public notice about your protected intellectual property. In the case of patent marking, not only does it reduce the risk of infringement because you are informing potential infringers of the patent's existence, but the notice also marks the point in time from which you can go back to for collecting on awarded damages. As the panel will discuss today, American patent law operates on a simple principle: mark your products with patent numbers, or watch your damages disappear.

** Episode Overview **

Kristen Hansen, Patent Strategy Specialist at Aurora, leads today's discussion with our all-star patent panel, delving deeply into the Do’s and Don’ts for patent marking – both physical and virtual, for US and abroad. Along the way, Kristen and the panel discuss:

⦿ Patent Marking basics
⦿ Legal requirements for patent marking
⦿ Benefits and best practices for marking
⦿ A real-life case cautionary tale
⦿ Implications for worldwide marking

** Mossoff Minute: Coke Morgan Stewart's Patent Reforms **

In this month’s minute, Professor Adam Mossoff celebrates the accomplishments of Acting USPTO Director Coke Morgan Stewart. Her tireless efforts over the past months are helping to light the path back toward reliable and effective patent rights for innovators across the country and in the global economy.

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Whether you’re a founder looking to take the next fundraising steps beyond bootstrapping, an aspiring angel investor looking to understand the risks of seed investing, or even a practitioner hoping to get a better grasp of how this all works hand-in-hand with patent strategy, today’s topic provides an incredible springboard into the high risk, high reward world of strategic fundraising for early-stage startups.

** Guest Host: Charlie Pascal **

To help us with the specifics, we’ve enlisted the assistance of Charlie Pascal. Charlie is the founder and principal attorney at Pascal Advisory LLC, where he’s spent the last decade focused primarily on working with early-stage tech and life science companies to navigate the legal complexities of everything from the pre-incorporation cocktail napkin stage to helping founders pick teams and build a board, on through our focus today, which is advising on all of the funding rounds from friends and family on through venture capital. Much like Aurora does with many of our early-stage clients, Charlie functions as what you can essentially think of as fractional general counsel for companies that aren't yet ready or able to engage full-time in-house legal counsel.

** Episode Overview **

Charlie and the panel discuss:

⦿ The various routes and rounds of fundraising available to early-stage companies.
⦿ How patents can play into each and how differences in business models can significantly impact patent strategy.
⦿ As a founder, what goes initially into projecting a budget for fundraising needs, and later, how to think about valuation.
⦿ How to get the most out of your patents when it comes to valuation and approaching investors.
⦿ And great pro tips on some surprising sharp corners related to things like preferred stock, down rounds, the investor payout waterfall, and the very commonly used and freely downloadable SAFE equity agreement created by Y-Combinator.

** Related Content **

⦿ What Investors Want in Patents: https://www.aurorapatents.com/blog/what-investors-want-in-patents-with-sridhar-iyengar
⦿ Government Grants and Patent Rights: https://www.aurorapatents.com/blog/government-grants-and-patent-rights
⦿ Key Considerations for IP Diligence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeeAmgAMtQA

** Follow Aurora Patents **

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Let us know what you think about this episode!

In today’s global economy, the importance of international patent protection cannot be overstated. Your invention could be conceived of with a workforce distributed across several continents. Your manufacturing could happen in Asia or India, while your products are shipped into and distributed from ports in the target markets of the largest economies across the globe. Would be competitors and infringers could be next door neighbors or perhaps across the pond. But as you’ll learn today, there is no such thing as an International Patent – no one global patent that protects you everywhere. Instead, patents are jurisdictional property rights. For example, a U.S. patent only grants the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, and importing the claimed invention within the United States. It has no bearing on activities performed in Canada, Mexico, China, or anywhere else in the world. To restrict activities there, you will need a patent granted in each of those countries.

So, how do you choose where to file? How long do you have to decide? What pathways exist for filing internationally? How do you pursue international protection in an intentional, strategic, cost-effective manner that won’t break the bank? And what should you be thinking about now, while drafting your patent to set yourself up for the greatest odds of success once on the international stage?

** Episode Overview **

Dr. Ashley Sloat, Aurora’s very own international patenting tour guide, leads today's discussion with our all-star patent panel, traveling from the U.S. to Europe, Africa, India, East Asia, Australia, and everywhere in between, exploring the intricacies and nuances of ensuring your patent rights are protected everywhere it matters. Along the way, Ashley and the panel discuss:

⦿ Reasons for pursuing international protection.
⦿ How to choose locations with a cost-effective international strategy.
⦿ Foreign filing deadline and strategy pointers.
⦿ The most common pathways for foreign protection including, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the Paris Convention, the European Patent Convention, Unitary Patents, and the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization.
⦿ Things you need to be thinking about well in advance, in terms of drafting your patent and the international dangers of public disclosure.
⦿ And even some considerations for how political happenings like tariffs, trade wars, and Brexit can impact your patent strategy.

** Mossoff Minute: A Friend to Inventors **

In this month’s minute, Professor Adam Mossoff discusses Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick's remarks at the National Inventors Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, and what this positively signals for the near future of innovation policy.

** Follow Aurora Patents **

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Let us know what you think about this episode!