In an online article published in the Wall Street Journal on May 9, 2023 (May 11, 2023 print edition), WRVB Intellectual Property Practice Group Leader and Principal Nathan Evans offers insight on when entrepreneurs should pursue patent or other IP protection.
WSJ reporter Barbara Haislip provides four considerations for assessing whether patent pursuit is a worthwhile investment for a startup company. Haislip cites filing expenses and infringement policing as the first two considerations. Evans offers perspective on a third consideration: whether an invention – such as a medical device or pharmaceutical – can be reverse-engineered. Without a patent, those ideas run the risk of being copied. However, “if your idea is something that can be kept secret such as a recipe or complex process that cannot be reverse-engineered, perhaps keeping it as a trade secret makes more sense.”
Haislip’s fourth consideration focuses on whether an entrepreneur might be better served by protecting its name with a trademark.
WSJ subscribers may click here to read Haislip’s full article or buy the print edition on May 11, 2023.
