While many people initially think of enforcement, the reality of patent enforcement is that it’s long, expensive and uncertain. Most companies don’t randomly engage in patent litigation, and neither should you. Here are six additional ways you can put a patent to work:

This blog was originally written as a guest post for Eleven Fifty Academy.

In the age of new technology, in which companies are spawning every day and an abundance of talent can be found in-house at many companies, developers and software engineers often consider doing work on the side – whether it be at a startup or personally starting their own business.  It is critical that these developers are aware of the limitations their employment agreements might place on them and any activities they carry out outside of work.  An individual’s employment agreement can often consist of a variety of contracts and clauses that affect side work, including the following:

What is Intellectual Property (IP)?

Last year, Gutwein Law opened our second office in Indianapolis, Indiana. Thirteen months and three additional attorneys later, and our intellectual property practice is flourishing. We wanted to come up with a way to share our collective knowledge and experience with the people who need it but may not be ready to formally hire an attorney yet. From there, a solution was born.

When the United States Constitution was adopted, it included a provision for preserving intellectual property, done as a means to protect those who invent new products and develop new methods useful to society. Recently, that protection has been morphed into a tool at the hands of people hoping to make what many argue as an undeserved profit. These non-practicing entities (“NPEs”) have come to be infamously known as “patent trolls.” As patent troll litigation heads towards an all-time high, many companies, especially small business, are worried about being targeted by these NPEs, who are getting away with large profits.  The actions of the NPEs can also be seen as hindering the advancement of innovation, the very thing the patent system was put in place to promote.