From TedTalks on YouTube, Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity. Watch and comment! [20 minutes]
Friday, December 12, 2008
Patents
Chase Pruitt, MGT 386, December 11, 2008
When someone gets a great idea for an invention of some sort and is serious about making it a reality, then they should seriously consider filing for a patent. Wikipedia states that, “a patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an invention”. So basically a patent is a legal right that gives the creator protection from other people who might try to mimic or copy the invention. Legally filing for a patent is not necessary when inventing something but would be highly recommended. This is just to protect your work from being copied and sold by someone else before you had a chance to claim it as your own. Obtaining a patent can be expensive and usually requires the services of a patent attorney who can walk you through the steps of evaluating your product and assist you in the patent acquisition process.
There are twelve steps in acquiring a US patent according to enzinearticles.com. The first step in this process is preparation and submission of the idea in written form to designated company managers. This is simply to get all your ideas and patent proposal in an organized written form. The second step is to have your proposal reviewed by the designated company mangers of the disclosed idea or innovation for potential commercial worth and value. This step is just so that the managers can decide if they feel the idea warrants a patent license. Thirdly, if the patent council is still interested in the idea then they will draft a summary evaluation of the disclosed idea or innovation of its technical working essentials and assess whether these essentials might meet the patent merit requirements of utility and novelty. Next, if the panel continues on with the procedure then it’s up to the company managers to make a review and decide whether and how to proceed with commercial development of the idea or innovation and also whether or not to seek patent protection for the innovation based on patent counsel’s summary evaluation. Following these steps comes a very important one in which there will be an in-person meeting between the inventors, patent counsel, and company mangers in order to determine and decide what is or should be the broadest possible scope for the innovation in commercial and non-commercial terms. This meeting will also consist of discussion topics such as detailing and characterizing inventorship, the number and types of commercial formats, kinds of variations, preferred embodiments and minimum essential parts, operation limits and optimal use ranges. Needless to say, this is an extremely import step in the patent process because of the magnitude of topics being discussed in a face to face environment. Once all these details get ironed out, then it is time to prepare and submit to the patent council a complete and full written description of the invention prepared by the inventors which will provide sufficient technical detail, relevant drawings, useful background information, a listing of unexpected benefits and desirable advantages, and the relevant prior art for patent text purposes. Once everything gets organized, drafted, and submitted, the patent council will prepare and distribute a first draft text to the named inventors and designated company managers. Upon receiving this, the inventors and designated company managers will read and revise the document and send it back to the patent council. Now, with the input and revisions of both parties, a second and final draft will be constructed. A receipt consisting of the final needed changes will be given by the patent counsel to the inventors and will be submitted to the U. S. Patent Office. Finally, a completed submission of the fully approved patent application manuscript, supporting formal documents and requisite fee payments can be sent to the U.S. Patent office.
When someone gets a great idea for an invention of some sort and is serious about making it a reality, then they should seriously consider filing for a patent. Wikipedia states that, “a patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an invention”. So basically a patent is a legal right that gives the creator protection from other people who might try to mimic or copy the invention. Legally filing for a patent is not necessary when inventing something but would be highly recommended. This is just to protect your work from being copied and sold by someone else before you had a chance to claim it as your own. Obtaining a patent can be expensive and usually requires the services of a patent attorney who can walk you through the steps of evaluating your product and assist you in the patent acquisition process.
There are twelve steps in acquiring a US patent according to enzinearticles.com. The first step in this process is preparation and submission of the idea in written form to designated company managers. This is simply to get all your ideas and patent proposal in an organized written form. The second step is to have your proposal reviewed by the designated company mangers of the disclosed idea or innovation for potential commercial worth and value. This step is just so that the managers can decide if they feel the idea warrants a patent license. Thirdly, if the patent council is still interested in the idea then they will draft a summary evaluation of the disclosed idea or innovation of its technical working essentials and assess whether these essentials might meet the patent merit requirements of utility and novelty. Next, if the panel continues on with the procedure then it’s up to the company managers to make a review and decide whether and how to proceed with commercial development of the idea or innovation and also whether or not to seek patent protection for the innovation based on patent counsel’s summary evaluation. Following these steps comes a very important one in which there will be an in-person meeting between the inventors, patent counsel, and company mangers in order to determine and decide what is or should be the broadest possible scope for the innovation in commercial and non-commercial terms. This meeting will also consist of discussion topics such as detailing and characterizing inventorship, the number and types of commercial formats, kinds of variations, preferred embodiments and minimum essential parts, operation limits and optimal use ranges. Needless to say, this is an extremely import step in the patent process because of the magnitude of topics being discussed in a face to face environment. Once all these details get ironed out, then it is time to prepare and submit to the patent council a complete and full written description of the invention prepared by the inventors which will provide sufficient technical detail, relevant drawings, useful background information, a listing of unexpected benefits and desirable advantages, and the relevant prior art for patent text purposes. Once everything gets organized, drafted, and submitted, the patent council will prepare and distribute a first draft text to the named inventors and designated company managers. Upon receiving this, the inventors and designated company managers will read and revise the document and send it back to the patent council. Now, with the input and revisions of both parties, a second and final draft will be constructed. A receipt consisting of the final needed changes will be given by the patent counsel to the inventors and will be submitted to the U. S. Patent Office. Finally, a completed submission of the fully approved patent application manuscript, supporting formal documents and requisite fee payments can be sent to the U.S. Patent office.
Venture Leasing
Chase Pruitt, MGT 386, December 11, 2008
It’s my understanding that venture leasing is nothing more than just a creative form of leasing that allows start up companies to finance certain items and equipment it needs to start a business. Basically, this just means that a well established company will lease equipment such as computers and software to early stage companies for a certain interest rate to be paid back in an agreed amount of years.
This type of leasing has a number of benefits for the start up company and would be well worth it. The first and most obvious benefit is that it would save the start up company extra cash that it would have had to spend on purchasing the equipment at full price. This is a crucial benefit because a company that is just starting out would have very little money to spend on all its needs and equipment. This way they are allowed to get the items they need at a cheaper price in which they would eventually pay back with interest once the business took off and started making enough money to pay back its debts. A second benefit of venture leasing is that it will finance a company even when that company doesn’t qualify for a bank loan or any other type of lease. Banks can be especially difficult to get a loan from particularly when it’s for a start up company with more risk than its worth paying for. This way the entrepreneur would be able to start the business without even going to the bank for the loan. Lastly, if negotiations are done wisely, venture capital could be very flexible for the entrepreneur starting his company.
Even with all these benefits and flexibility, a venture capital leaser also must follow certain guidelines to decide if a business will be a good venture lease transaction. According to Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Venture leasers look at several factors which two of the main ingredients of a successful new venture are the caliber of its management team and the quality of its venture capital sponsors (ezinearticles.com/?Venture-Leasing:-Startup-Financing-On-the-Rise&id=7424 - 53k -). Pricewaterhouse goes on to say that a good management team must have experience in the key business functions which are sales, marketing, R&D, production, engineering, and finance.
Venture leasing also has its fair share of risk involved. One risk that a business might face is that if it gets to the point where it cannot pay back its debt then there is a good chance that its equipment will be taken back by the leaser. This is something that would not happen if the equipment was bought out right and therefore owned by the start up company. When starting a business and not having much money this is an easy risk to overlook because in the beginning stages, all the entrepreneur cares about is getting the items and equipment it needs to start its hopefully successful business.
With this all said, venture leasing is a very worthwhile and helpful form of leasing for start up companies. It is still important however, for entrepreneurs to fully look into all their financing options before choosing venture leasing as there might be a more logical financing opportunity out there.
It’s my understanding that venture leasing is nothing more than just a creative form of leasing that allows start up companies to finance certain items and equipment it needs to start a business. Basically, this just means that a well established company will lease equipment such as computers and software to early stage companies for a certain interest rate to be paid back in an agreed amount of years.
This type of leasing has a number of benefits for the start up company and would be well worth it. The first and most obvious benefit is that it would save the start up company extra cash that it would have had to spend on purchasing the equipment at full price. This is a crucial benefit because a company that is just starting out would have very little money to spend on all its needs and equipment. This way they are allowed to get the items they need at a cheaper price in which they would eventually pay back with interest once the business took off and started making enough money to pay back its debts. A second benefit of venture leasing is that it will finance a company even when that company doesn’t qualify for a bank loan or any other type of lease. Banks can be especially difficult to get a loan from particularly when it’s for a start up company with more risk than its worth paying for. This way the entrepreneur would be able to start the business without even going to the bank for the loan. Lastly, if negotiations are done wisely, venture capital could be very flexible for the entrepreneur starting his company.
Even with all these benefits and flexibility, a venture capital leaser also must follow certain guidelines to decide if a business will be a good venture lease transaction. According to Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Venture leasers look at several factors which two of the main ingredients of a successful new venture are the caliber of its management team and the quality of its venture capital sponsors (ezinearticles.com/?Venture-Leasing:-Startup-Financing-On-the-Rise&id=7424 - 53k -). Pricewaterhouse goes on to say that a good management team must have experience in the key business functions which are sales, marketing, R&D, production, engineering, and finance.
Venture leasing also has its fair share of risk involved. One risk that a business might face is that if it gets to the point where it cannot pay back its debt then there is a good chance that its equipment will be taken back by the leaser. This is something that would not happen if the equipment was bought out right and therefore owned by the start up company. When starting a business and not having much money this is an easy risk to overlook because in the beginning stages, all the entrepreneur cares about is getting the items and equipment it needs to start its hopefully successful business.
With this all said, venture leasing is a very worthwhile and helpful form of leasing for start up companies. It is still important however, for entrepreneurs to fully look into all their financing options before choosing venture leasing as there might be a more logical financing opportunity out there.
Mir Imran on Market and Company Size
From Stanford's Entrepreneurship Corner:
Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and Johnson & Johnson all began as single-product ventures, says Mir Imran, CEO of InCube Labs and serial entrepreneur of medical devices. And while the medical community is rife with single-product ventures, a few of them do go on to become large enterprises offering a suite of products in multiple markets. What sets the bar for each venture? The market viability for each product they produce.
Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and Johnson & Johnson all began as single-product ventures, says Mir Imran, CEO of InCube Labs and serial entrepreneur of medical devices. And while the medical community is rife with single-product ventures, a few of them do go on to become large enterprises offering a suite of products in multiple markets. What sets the bar for each venture? The market viability for each product they produce.
Randy Komisar on the "Deferred Life" Plan
From Stanford's Entrepreneurship Corner:
Komisar warns against the concept of a deferred life plan, when people put off what they really want to do for what is expected of them. According to Komisar, this is when you are deferring your sense of excitement and passion for what you really care about. Working hard is not inconsistent with the deferred life plan, he adds, but doing so for a product that you do not have interest in is.
Komisar warns against the concept of a deferred life plan, when people put off what they really want to do for what is expected of them. According to Komisar, this is when you are deferring your sense of excitement and passion for what you really care about. Working hard is not inconsistent with the deferred life plan, he adds, but doing so for a product that you do not have interest in is.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Randy Komisar on the TiVo Transformation
From Stanford's Entrepreneurship Corner:
Komisar explains how the original TiVO concept went through multiple transformations. Originally, the TiVO entrepreneurs wanted to create a stand-alone VCR box that would be sold by large retailers. Over time and with the guidance of Komisar, the entrepreneurs realized it would make better sense to offer TiVo as a service instead of a hardware product with low-margins.
Komisar explains how the original TiVO concept went through multiple transformations. Originally, the TiVO entrepreneurs wanted to create a stand-alone VCR box that would be sold by large retailers. Over time and with the guidance of Komisar, the entrepreneurs realized it would make better sense to offer TiVo as a service instead of a hardware product with low-margins.
Guy Kawasaki on the Importance of a Good Presentation
From Stanford's Entrepreneurship Center:
Guy Kawasaki talks about how he uses a top 10 format for Powerpoint presentations and thinks that most presentations are terrible. For example, he says either the presentations are too long, Powerpoint is used poorly, or the font is too small to read. [1 minute, 4 seconds]
Guy Kawasaki talks about how he uses a top 10 format for Powerpoint presentations and thinks that most presentations are terrible. For example, he says either the presentations are too long, Powerpoint is used poorly, or the font is too small to read. [1 minute, 4 seconds]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
