By Matt Burr

Trademarks are used to protect a name, word, or symbol that is used for the purpose of identifying the source of goods or services.  Many economists have shown the direct relationship between the increasing importance of branding and the value of securing your IP - a lesson that the “Octomom” has clearly not missed! (more…)

By Matthew Burr

On Tuesday, March 3, 2009 the “Patent Reform Act of 2009” was introduced in Congress. This is the latest effort to pass this legislation, which has been knocking around Washington for years, into law. The 2008 version died in the Senate last year. It is thought by many observers to have a better chance of becoming law this time around.  In fact the bill was approved on April 2, 2009, in a 15-4 vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill now moves to the Senate floor. (more…)

By Charles Moster
(Originally published by Fred Patterson, SBIR Coach)

Imagine that you just stepped off the elevator having traveled 30 floors talking to the CEO at your top prospect.  You gave the most stirring elevator speech in the history of elevator speeches, and captured her imagination with your tale of cutting-edge technologies and memorable branding. (more…)

In what is shaping up to be a recurring collaboration, we want to highlight some expert commentary from Fred Patterson. Fred is a huge advocate of growing the economy by growing small business and, in particular, by finding ways to fund innovation with Federal money that never has to be paid back!

Best,
Charles Moster (more…)

By Shari Wynne
Picture yourself having hired your first 5 new employees to help get your new business off the ground. If you’re wondering how to protect the customer base you are working so hard to develop, you are likely concerned about how the use of non-compete agreements can help or hurt you. Your concerns are well founded. (more…)

By Charles Moster 
Consider the following scenario:
If Darth Vader went to the best law school he could get into…
And then became the biggest baddest lawyer in town…
And set his Laser Light Saber on your Texas business, how would he fare?   (more…)

By Charles Moster w/ contributions Matt Burr
As a fellow entrepreneur, it is disheartening to see how many emerging businesses operate without protecting even their most critical forms of intellectual property.  In fact, many business owners are not even sure what “intellectual property” (IP) means. (more…)

By Charles Moster
The weather was uncharacteristically warm for October in Austin and I found myself driving down a scenic road and thinking about all things holidays from ornaments and candy canes to mistletoe and angels. Yes, angels. There is certainly an abundance of angels this time of year of every shape and theme imaginable and all bearing that perfect ceramic or cushy halo above with the insignia below “made in China”. As I continued to drive with some distraction my mind wandered to halos, and perforated ones at that! (more…)