Hidden Gold: How to Uncover Million-Dollar Patent Opportunities Before Your Competitors Do
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Learn how to perform comprehensive searches for intellectual property assets including patents, trademarks, and other federally registered properties that may have significant hidden value for creditors and investors.
Key Topics Covered
- Introduction to IP Asset Investigation
- How to identify intellectual property assets that may not appear to have significant cash value
- Using IP discoveries to leverage debtors into settlements
- Understanding the hidden value of patents, trademarks, and domain names
- Patent Search Fundamentals
- Navigating USPTO.gov for patent research
- Using the patent search database effectively
- Understanding boolean search operators (AND, OR, adjacent, near, same, width)
- Narrowing down search results from millions of entries
- Patent Search Strategies
- Searching by inventor names (example: Steve Smith yielding 1.2 million results)
- Company-based searches (example: Ajax Corporation with 6 results)
- Cross-referencing inventors with corporate records
- Finding hidden connections between individuals and companies
- Patent Document Analysis
- Understanding patent application structure and components
- Accessing PDF versions and image views
- Identifying related parties, attorneys, and addresses
- Finding provisional patents and related filings
- Advanced Patent Research Techniques
- Pulling comprehensive document sets rather than single patents
- Analyzing sequential patent numbers for related inventions
- Identifying patent attorneys and law firms
- Discovering technical resources and asset relationships
- Trademark Investigation Methods
- Using TESS (Trademark Electronic Search System)
- Understanding basic vs. free-form search options
- Analyzing registrant information and attorney records
- Identifying live vs. dead trademark status
- Trademark Data Mining
- Finding business classifications and industry information
- Locating physical addresses and property ownership
- Discovering attorney relationships and legal connections
- Export capabilities for data analysis
- Practical Investigation Tips
- Avoiding the pitfall of rushing through searches
- Reading documents thoroughly for hidden information
- Cross-referencing data across multiple databases
- Using competitive intelligence from industry contacts
- Asset Discovery Applications
- Converting trademark addresses into property searches
- Finding UCC filings and financial connections
- Understanding abandoned trademarks and their implications
- Tracking corporate name changes and business evolution
- Professional Investigation Best Practices
- Comprehensive document collection and analysis
- Building complete profiles from partial information
- Following investigative rabbit holes systematically
- Leveraging IP data for broader asset discovery
