Patent Attorney and Founder
Most inventors assume that the best way to protect an invention is to lock it down with patents, trade secrets, and legal barriers.
But what if the opposite strategy could work?
In this episode of the Bold Inventor Show, J.D. Houvener and Matt Kulseth sit down with inventor and maker Noel Rabinowitz, founder of Make Boom Boxes, to discuss handcrafted wooden speakers, open-source hardware, community-driven innovation, and how intellectual property strategies should align with your business goals, not the other way around.
Along the way, J.D. and Matt answer audience questions about trademarking logos, protecting plant inventions, and why every inventor should think strategically about intellectual property before launching a product.
Podcast Transcript
Welcome to the Bold Inventor Show
J.D. Houvener:
Hey, everybody! Welcome to the Bold Inventor Show. I’m your host, J.D. Houvener, joined by my trusty co-host, Matt Kulseth.
Matt Kulseth:
Great afternoon, J.D. Good to see you.
J.D. Houvener:
Good to see you too.
We’ve both been spending a lot more time outside lately. The flowers we planted last year are finally blooming, and it’s been fun seeing everything come to life.
Matt, are you much of a gardener?
Matt Kulseth:
Not anymore.
We used to have a pretty big garden, but once the kids got older life got busier. We keep saying we’re going to tear down the playground in the backyard and replace it with a garden.
Maybe next year.
J.D. Houvener:
I like that plan.
You’re also getting ready for a pretty exciting trip.
Matt Kulseth:
My wife and I are taking our kids to Japan for about a month. I’ll still be working part-time while we’re there, but we’re planning to visit Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, and spend some time near the beach.
I’m really looking forward to it.
J.D. Houvener:
Japan has been at the top of my travel list for years. Hopefully we can even record a show while you’re over there.
Today we’ve also got a fantastic guest joining us, Noel Rabinowitz, founder of Make Boom Boxes.
Before we bring him on…
Were you ever a boom box guy?
Matt Kulseth:
Definitely.
I never carried one around on my shoulder, but I had one in my room. Mine started with cassette tapes and eventually upgraded to CDs.
The only problem was you had to walk really carefully or the CD would skip.
J.D. Houvener:
I remember recording songs straight off the radio onto cassette tapes.
Looking back, as intellectual property attorneys, we probably shouldn’t recommend doing that today.
My kids recently asked me what those copyright warnings on old movies meant. I tried explaining it, but they lost interest pretty quickly.
Apparently my youngest daughter thinks all I do for work is “push buttons.”
Matt Kulseth:
Now you’ve got AI pushing the buttons for you.
J.D. Houvener:
Exactly.
For anyone joining us for the first time, Matt and I are intellectual property attorneys.
I focus on patents.
Matt focuses on trademarks.
Every week we answer high-level IP questions and interview inventors, entrepreneurs, and creators. If you have confidential legal questions, we’d encourage you to schedule a private consultation with one of our attorneys.
Weekly IP Q&A
Should You Trademark Your Logo?
J.D. Houvener:
Here’s today’s first question.
An entrepreneur has spent years building a niche e-commerce business. Their business name is already protected as a trademark, but they’re finally creating a logo.
Should they register the logo too?
Matt Kulseth:
If you’ve already protected your business name, that’s usually the strongest protection because customers recognize and search for your name.
Registering your logo can still make a lot of sense if you’re growing the business, attracting investors, or worried about competitors creating something that looks similar without using the exact same name.
Sometimes it’s simply worth protecting a design that’s become valuable to your brand.
J.D. Houvener:
Exactly.
Your word mark usually does most of the heavy lifting.
But logo trademarks become important when competitors try to imitate your visual identity while changing just enough to avoid copying your name.
That’s where design marks can become extremely valuable.
Can You Patent a Plant Found in the Wild?
J.D. Houvener:
Here’s one for the patent side.
Can someone patent a plant discovered growing naturally?
Matt Kulseth:
Generally, no.
You can’t patent something that already exists in nature.
Just discovering a naturally occurring plant isn’t enough.
Where plant patents come into play is when people create something new through breeding, cultivation, grafting, or another form of human innovation.
J.D. Houvener:
That’s right.
Plant patents often get overlooked, but they absolutely exist.
The key difference is that the plant must represent human ingenuity, not simply something discovered in the wild.
Honeycrisp apples are a great example of years of selective breeding creating valuable intellectual property.
Interview with Noel Rabinowitz, Founder of Make Boom Boxes
J.D. Houvener:
Noel, welcome to the show.
Noel:
Thanks so much for inviting me.
Make Boom Boxes is about putting soul back into speakers.
Too many speakers today are disposable plastic products designed for consumption instead of creativity.
I wanted to rethink what portable music could feel like.
People develop emotional connections with handcrafted instruments and home stereo systems.
Why shouldn’t they have that same relationship with a portable speaker?
Music is something special.
Your speaker should be too.
J.D. Houvener:
When people hear “boom box,” they probably picture those giant plastic boxes from decades ago.
That’s not what you’ve built.
Noel:
Exactly.
The original boom boxes actually had personality. They reflected culture.
Today’s speakers often hide everything.
No visible speakers.
No handle.
No craftsmanship.
No character.
I also have a background building handmade guitars, and that heavily influenced these speakers.
Wood doesn’t behave like plastic.
Every piece contributes to the sound, just like the body of an acoustic guitar or violin.
The entire enclosure becomes part of the instrument.
Developing this design took about six years.
Then it took another two years to transform it into a do-it-yourself kit so other people could build one themselves.
If someone asks whether you built it, you can proudly answer:
“Yes, and so can you.”
Matt Kulseth:
I was looking through your website before the show.
These aren’t just speakers.
They’re heirloom-quality pieces.
They’re something you’d proudly pass down to your children.
Noel:
That’s exactly what I wanted.
Instead of buying another plastic speaker every few years, why not own something that’s repairable, upgradeable, customizable, and built to last?
Why Noel Chose Open Source Instead of More Patents
J.D. Houvener:
You’re on a patent podcast, so I have to ask.
Did you protect your invention with patents?
Noel:
That’s actually where the story gets interesting.
Many people assume intellectual property means locking everything down with patents, legal barriers, and trade secrets.
I ultimately chose a different path.
Two years ago, I released the entire design as open-source hardware.
Every laser-cut file.
Every instruction.
Every bill of materials.
Everything is publicly available.
Matt Kulseth:
That’s a bold decision.
Noel:
It came from experience.
I watched another brilliant speaker designer spend years developing an incredible product.
A much larger company copied his design.
He took them to court.
They had far greater legal resources.
He lost.
He lost his patent.
He lost his savings.
That experience changed how I viewed intellectual property.
I realized patents are only as valuable as your ability to defend them.
Instead of spending my resources preparing for lawsuits, I decided to invest in building a community.
By releasing everything publicly, the design becomes prior art.
No one else can patent it.
Instead, I focus on building the best products, helping makers, and growing a community around the brand.
Community Becomes the Competitive Advantage
Matt Kulseth:
What I love about this approach is that you’re inviting people into the ecosystem.
They’re contributing ideas, modifications, and improvements.
That actually strengthens the platform instead of weakening it.
Noel:
Exactly.
That’s the counterintuitive part.
The community becomes the moat.
We compete on trust.
We compete on craftsmanship.
We compete on quality.
Not secrecy.
This strategy isn’t right for every business.
Anyone considering it should speak with an attorney and make sure it aligns with their long-term goals.
Open source isn’t a marketing gimmick.
It’s a complete business strategy.
Matt Kulseth:
That makes sense.
A handcrafted product like yours is very different from a low-cost commodity product.
Different businesses require different intellectual property strategies.
Noel:
Exactly.
I’ve worked with products where patents absolutely made sense.
This just wasn’t one of them.
Is There Still a Secret Sauce?
J.D. Houvener:
Even with everything being public, is there still a secret sauce?
Noel:
Honestly?
The secret sauce is the brand.
It’s the goodwill we’ve built.
It’s the relationship with our customers.
It’s the community we’ve created around the project.
Music has always been shared.
Songs evolve because people pass them along, reinterpret them, and make them their own.
I believe the devices that bring music into our lives should reflect that same philosophy.
Matt Kulseth:
That’s a fascinating way to think about intellectual property.
Today, anyone can scan and copy physical products.
Your philosophy is that if someone is going to build on your work, you’d rather have them participate in your ecosystem than pretend it can never happen.
Noel:
Exactly.
And if someone violates the open-source license, there are still legal protections available.
The difference is that my focus isn’t on excluding people.
It’s on building something bigger than myself.
Closing Thoughts
J.D. Houvener:
Noel, this has been an incredible conversation.
Whether someone agrees with your strategy or not, you’ve shown exactly what every inventor should do:
Develop an intellectual property strategy that supports the business you’re actually trying to build.
There isn’t one answer that fits everyone.
Noel:
Exactly.
Innovation isn’t only about protecting ideas.
Sometimes it’s about sharing them in a way that creates something even bigger.
Thank you both for having me.
Matt Kulseth:
Thanks for joining us.
This was one of the most unique conversations we’ve had on the show.
J.D. Houvener:
Thanks, everyone, for watching another episode of the Bold Inventor Show.
We’ll see you next week.
Go big. Go bold.