Fodder for thought.
By Erik J. Heels
First published 9/1/2016; YearOfDisruption.com; publisher: GiantPeople.
September – How to pay for it?
- Startups need patents/trademarks when they can least afford them.
- Should startups focus on trade secrets instead of patents?
- Should startups launch their brand and worry about trademarks later?
- How much does rebranding cost?
- Your BOD says you need patents, but do you really?
- What’s the cost/benefit analysis of NOT filing patents?
- What’s the cost/benefit analysis of NOT filing trademarks?
- The role of angels and VCs.
October – Who is disrupting patent law?
- Patent agents vs. patent lawyers.
- Outsourcing patent work to India.
- Outsourcing non-IP work to other specialists (e.g. corporate law).
- What’s the deal with invention promotion firms?
- Who is bidding on the “patent” search term and why (https://www.google.com/search?q=patent)?
- What’s the deal with LegalZoom.com?
- NOLO patent book: Patent It Yourself (https://www.amazon.com/Patent-Yourself-Step—Step-Filing/dp/1413322573/).
- Valueless disruption: about patent trolls.
November – Who is disrupting trademark law?
- Who is bidding on the “trademark” search term and why (https://www.google.com/search?q=trademark)?
- What’s the deal with Cognate.com (common law trademark solutions)?
- What’s the deal with Trademarkia.com (common law trademark solutions)?
- NOLO trademark books (http://www.nolo.com/products/trademark-trd.html).
- What’s the deal with this foreign trademark bill I received?
- Why is the USPTO trademark system so unsecure?
- And why are trademark lawyers so insecure?
- Should there be a trademark bar exam?
- Valueless disruption: about domain name (and username) squatters.
- Valueless disruption: about trademark bullies.
December – Giving back.
- Pro bono IP players.
- Nonprofit IP work.
- Special interest groups.
- University groups such as Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society (https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/).
- Should pro bono be a requirement for the patent bar?
- Should pro bono be a requirement for trademark lawyers?
January – Automation, crowds, drones, robots.
- Can you automate invention? Robert Plotkin’s book (https://www.amazon.com/Genie-Machine-Computer-Automated-Inventing-Revolutionizing/dp/0804756996/).
- Can you crowd-source your logo?
- Why pay lawyers for trademark renewals?
- Why pay lawyers for patent renewals?
February – Location, location, location.
- Urban or suburban?
- Co-working, incubators, accelerators.
- Do you need a real office?
- Do you need a virtual office?
- Why Boston is the best US city for startups.
- Why New York City is the best US city for startups.
- Why DC is the best US city for startups.
- Why San Francisco is the best US city for startups.
- Why [YOUR FAVORITE STARTUP CITY HERE] is the best US city for startups.
March – Third month madness! Vote for Boston’s best patent and trademark firms.
- We can’t call it March Madness, for obvious reasons.
- Why big patent firms are better than small patent firms.
- Why small patent firms are better than big patent firms.
- Why big trademark firms are better than small trademark firms.
- Why small trademark firms are better than big trademark firms.
April – Law practice management.
- ABA TechShow.
- Technology trends.
- Marketing trends.
- Internet trends.
- Fewer law students, fewer lawyers. Good or bad?
- The economy is cyclic. Ready for the next recession?
May – Graduation. What have we learned?
- Looking back, looking forward.
- Did we learn anything from 1990s business books?
- Book: Chaos Monkeys (https://www.amazon.com/Chaos-Monkeys-Obscene-Fortune-Failure/dp/0062458191/).
- Am Law 100 trends.
- SCOTUS trends in IP law.
