Patent Attorney and Founder
It’s been 10 years since I started Bold IP, PLLC, known now as “Bold Patents”. Looking back over the years, and how we’ve developed and grown and been able to impact inventors around the country (and the world), one thing has stood out when I take that forest-from-the-trees perspective. It really isn’t the pages of words and drawings found in the patent documents that provide the impact, nor the shiny, colorful, embossed patent booklet from the USPTO that is most meaningful.
Instead, it is the confidence and the validation that the process brings to the inventor.
Each one of our inventor clients starts out working with us by taking a risk. By letting us in on their secret, many first-time inventors are trusting us as their first point of contact. For most of our clients, we are the first attorney they’ve ever spoken with. Can you believe that? We typically need to explain the role of an attorney, and that we’re obligated to keep anything and everything we talk about confidential, even if we don’t end up serving them. Without a doubt, many first-time inventors are taking very uncomfortable steps trusting Bold, an unknown 3rd party stranger with their idea-of-a-lifetime. Can you imagine?
Given this amount of stress, anxiety, and near-paranoia that our first-time inventors experience, can you imagine what their level of confidence is like?
But, as we take their hand, educate them on the process, and help them understand the law, we see clients transform. Sure, we deliver on our promises to give them eligibility reports, patent search opinions, custom line drawings, specifications and claim-sets. But, what’s really happening is the client is maturing, and gaining confidence in what they’ve come up with. And, the closer they get to securing patent protection, the more real the prospects are that they can make a difference in the world, and offer their solution to those who need it.
Our clients, specifically our first-time inventor clients, are technologists initially, and tend to focus on the details of what they’ve come up with. But, the growth and confidence comes from gaining a business mindset, one born of the capitalistic policy that patents were created under to give an inventor 20 years of exclusivity in reward for helping to enlighten us all.
The confidence snowballs.
We have countless inventors that have gone on to go after 2nd, 3rd, and 9th inventions. Some related to the first, and some with dazzling breadth and variety. Instead of being worried and anxious, with our help, the process of bringing their solutions to the world becomes exhilarating!
Because I’ve seen this transformation in many of our clients, and I want ALL inventors EVERYWHERE to feel that same confidence and validation, I’ve championed the phrase “Go Big, Go Bold!” The words are aimed directly at the inventor that is on the edge of reaching out to share their invention, unsure whether what they have is special enough, novel enough, not perfect enough. The word “Go” shows up twice! Haha. There’s got to be forward progress, momentum, and a true leap! “Big” means, not a safe, planned, predictable step, but a MONSTROUS, fuzzy, unclear, uncharted, unplanned, and risky step.
Watching inventors “Go Big” is an awesome thing to behold. And yes, I am selfish in that I want them to choose us, and “Go Bold” as well. I want to be their advisor along the path toward bringing their vision to the world. Our law firm works only with these types of inventors, no big corporations, just inventors and difference-makers. We know the challenges and trials a small business or start-up faces and can give experienced counsel at the right time to keep momentum going.
Are you one of those inventors? Unsure about your invention? Not sure if the timing is right? Want to take the safe route? Here’s hoping that this article has changed your mind a bit, and when you’re ready, I hope you Go Big, Go Bold!
Schedule a free Discovery Call today to learn more about your next big move.