Last week’s Traklight on Forbes series highlighted four fantastic tips on a startup’s most valuable assets in Mary’s blog titled “Should Startups Really Skip Legal Protection?” 

Check back every week for more content. Thanks for reading!

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For this week’s Forbes post, Mary consulted Traklight’s advisory board members Barbara Clarke and Nnamdi Okike, both with investment portfolios featuring startups, for tips on IP and strategy in early stage companies.

An early stage company reading it would find it useful to get an inside look from an investor’s point of view towards IP strategy, tips, and horror stories they have to share. 

Barbara stresses this about companies with a limited idea of their IP strategy:

“Having patents, trademarks, and copyrights are only helpful if you have the resources to enforce them. It is naïve of companies to think that IP protection is the whole strategy. Creating an inventory and protecting your IP is just the start.”

Continue reading “Forbes Update: Advisory Board Members Talk IP Strategy”

Every July, thousands of pop culture enthusiasts descent on San Diego to take part in what has become the preeminent event in geek culture: San Diego Comic-Con. Fans come looking for merchandise, panel discussions, and the latest news on all their favorite franchises, and entertainment studios are more than willing to oblige in an effort to build excitement for upcoming projects. The name Comic-Con has become synonymous with big stars, bigger films, and internet-melting news. But alleged misuse of the name on the part of another convention has prompted legal action that might determine the course of similarly named events across the country with a trademark infringement battle.

Continue reading “Trademark Infringement Battle of the Comic-Cons”

Previously on our Taking the Scary Out of Startup series, we discussed why relationships matter to the success of your startup.

Continue reading “Taking the Scary Out of Startup: Why Startups Succeed, Part 14”

Previously in our Intellectual Property (IP) Best Practices series, we introduced step six to managing your IP: well-drafted agreements. Please check back every Monday for the next step in this series.

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Intellectual property (IP) is continuously created in all innovative companies so if a proper discovery and disclosure protocol is not in place, employees may disclose IP by mistake. It is important to establish a process by which discovery becomes a regular affair. One of the best way for a business to ensure compliance is to provide incentives for employees to come forth proactively.

Continue reading “IP Best Practices: Discover Employee Created IP, Step 7”

If you have a small business, intellectual property (IP) protection might not be at the top of your priority list. Perhaps because you don’t see yourself as vulnerable to having IP stolen. The truth is that all businesses big and small are vulnerable to IP theft; but small businesses frequently ignore IP protection out of fear of it involving too much work with legal matters.

Previously in our Traklight Trakers series, we introduced to you Maddie Gildenberg. Today’s feature is Chris. At his first monthly Traker meeting, Chris proved his Traker committment when he recited our cultural values off-the-cuff. Kudos!

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Emily: What did you learn about IP before you started at Traklight?
Chris: This I can honestly answer very simply… NO. It was a concept that I knew existed, but beyond the whole FBI warnings at the beginning of most movies and music I knew nothing, and because of the field I’m in I feel I should have known more.

Do you have an idea that’s been sitting around your company with easy accessibility. Do you know how to protect your idea from being stolen? Taking action to create your intellectual property (IP) strategy and protect your ideas from being stolen is an important aspect of running a successful business. You’re playing risk if you have ideas sitting around in document form that’s deemed a creative work, or perhaps a trade secret. When it comes to trade secrets being stolen, you’re in for a rude awakening when it comes to how many new cases are occurring lately.

Continue reading “3 Ways to Protect Your Idea from Being Stolen”

Last week’s Traklight on Forbes series highlighted four fantastic tips on a startup’s most valuable assets in Mary’s blog titled “Advisory Board Members Talk IP And Investing In Early-Stage Companies“.

Check back every week for more content. Thanks for reading!

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Mary Juetten recently attended the second annual SXSW V2V conference, where she participated on a panel that delved into startup funding and alternative sources of capital, as well as business tips and tricks from each of the panelists.

Continue reading “Forbes Update: Alternative Startup Funding From SXSW V2V”

Whether you’re a casual soccer fan or a die-hard devotee of the “beautiful game,” chances are that you know who Christiano Ronaldo is. As the most recent winner of the Ballon d’Or award, given to the European footballer of the year, the 29-year-old Portuguese forward is considered to be on the very short list for consideration as the best player in the world. He’s paid a princely sum (21 million Euros) to play for Real Madrid, arguably the biggest club in the world. He’s graced the covers of magazines and video games, appeared in numerous ads across the world, and has a Twitter following nearly triple the population of his home country. He could rightly be considered one of the most famous people in the world, with his eye fixed on cracking the American market. But a recent trademark suit in the US could pose a threat to his efforts to expand his fame stateside.

Continue reading “Trademark Suit Ensues Between Soccer Star and US Man”

Previously on our Taking the Scary Out of Startup series, we discussed how important content is to building your business; after all, content is king.

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Become an Expert

No one wants to consciously purchase from a second best or third tier company! You need to step up your game in order to dominate as a thought leader.

Why care?

When I was first told to become as an expert in my area, I laughed it off and actually thought that it would be completely ridiculous to be an intellectual property (IP) expert. I’m not even a practicing attorney! Yet, only having a law degree has actually helped me because I carved out an expert niche translating legal concepts into stories and lessons learned for entrepreneurs. You need to find your niche…

Continue reading “Taking the Scary Out of Startup: Why Startups Succeed, Part 15”