229: Overview of Patenting for Hardware Startups

Are you looking to secure a patent or curious about what kind of intellectual property protection will best protect your brilliant ideas? Tom Dunlap has all the answers you're looking for and more. For 22 years, Tom has been the driving force behind Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig. He also imparts his expertise in patent law at Lafayette College and has developed numerous books on the frameworks of IP protection. Today, Tom is set to share his insight into this important topic with inventors, startups, and small manufacturers. He will detail the distinctions between provisional patents, utility patents, design patents, copyrights, and trademarks, as well as best practices for ensuring optimal IP protection for your new physical product invention.

Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/229-overview-of-patenting-for-hardware-startups/

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

• Securing patent protection for your invention product is absolutely critical!

• A utility patent protects the product's function, essentially how it works.

• A design patent protects the physical design of a product, essentially how it looks.

• Trademarks are another form of intellectual property protection that protects your brand, for example, McDonald's and its gold arches.

• Copyright protection protects a range of supportive items, such as code, instruction manuals, and text pertinent to the product.

• Trade Secrets refer to pieces of information you want to keep private about your product or brand.

• A provisional patent is not really a patent. It is more like a temporary bookmark you have to file within a year of developing your novel product.

• One patent application can be submitted for protection in several countries through certain platforms.

• What is the difference between independent claims and dependent claims?

• All you own by securing a patent is what you have claimed.

MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com

Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako

Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. We also help our clients with business and product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.