Question
Hi! As a startup looking for funding, we are often told that solid Intellectual Property protection of our product is essential to secure an investor's interest. On the other hand, protecting your IP requires some finances (Patent application in the U.S.: approximately $30.000?), so it would seem that at least seed capital has to come first.
Is this really a classic chicken-egg problem, or are there maybe other strategies to manage IP protection on the one side and presenting investors with a strong product on the other?
Answers: 2 public & 1 private
I agree with Kirian in that a patent pending is usually enough to satisfy an investor, but they may want to see the application and the amount of effort put into a prior art search if your invention is in a crowded space. Filing a provisional application is still an investment, but it should cost much less than $30,000. The struggle of getting enough money together to file a provisional prior to talking with investors is one that many of my clients face as well. I don’t know of any good angel investors that will sign a confidentiality agreement prior to speaking with you the first time. If you can scrape together enough money for a high quality provisional application, it may provide a significant return on investment through additional investments and future licensing agreements.
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