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Jackie Hutter

Licensing by Startups: A Reality Check

Licensing by Startups: A Reality Check

A significant proportion of startup entrepreneurs tell me that their strategy to generate revenue centers on licensing their protected product or technology to an established company, after which I provide them with a reality check. In truth, as general matter, licensing is a fairly low probability outcome for a startup.

An Awesome URL | Not a Trademark Strategy

An Awesome URL | Not a Trademark Strategy

Repeat after me: getting an awesome URL for your startup does not mean you now have a trademark strategy. For those in the know, this statement will make them go “duh.” But, I can’t begin to tell you how many entrepreneurs tell me that they don’t need to

Maximize Startup Valuation: Go Beyond "Usual IP Suspects"

Maximize Startup Valuation: Go Beyond "Usual IP Suspects"

Entrepreneurs seeking to maximize the startup valuation must go beyond the “usual IP suspects," that is, patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. I call these forms of IP the “usual suspects” because they are what entrepreneurs and their advisers invariably focus on when questions about protecting startup value arise.

Product-Based Startups: Why Patents Are Not Your First Step

Product-Based Startups: Why Patents Are Not Your First Step

The first step that entrepreneurs in product-based startups typically undertake is to seek patent protection, but this is incorrect. Put simply, unless customers show that they care about the product that will be covered by the patent such that they are willing to pay more than it costs to make

Startups: You’re Doing Patents All Wrong

Startups: You’re Doing Patents All Wrong

Startup entrepreneurs: forget what you think you know about patenting, you’re doing it all wrong. Of course, you can’t be blamed for this, there is a huge cadre of experts—be they attorneys, investors or your advisory board—who tell you that you need patents to “protect your

Is Traction the "New IP" for Your Startup?

Is Traction the "New IP" for Your Startup?

“Traction is the new IP” is a common refrain from startup experts these days. As a result, many startup entrepreneurs are rejecting patents and other forms of IP protection to focus instead on generating customers. It is certainly comforting for busy entrepreneurs to have succinct slogans like “traction is the

Start Ups: Rethink Patenting Your Software-Related Ideas

As an IP Strategist, the benefits of patenting for software-based companies have always been tough for me to see; however, recently it has become even more clear that entrepreneurs with businesses based on software processes and, more specifically, data processing-related business models, need to re-think patents as a value creation