Patent recipe: securing success through intellectual property protection.

• Author: Spendlove, Gretta C.
• Position: Feature

"It looks like a toothbrush on steroids," says Aaron Cobabe, describing the SonicScrubber. Cobabe's company, SonicScrubbers, which markets its hand-held, battery-powered cleaning tools through Bed Bath & Beyond, Walgreens, and R.C. Willey, is one of many Utah companies that develop and market new products. One challenge such companies face is protecting their designs and ideas from the competition. "Patents aren't an end-all to competition, but they are one barrier," says Cobabe. "Other factors for success include a unique product, a special niche, being first to market, and/or a shrewd marketing strategy."

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Dana Tangren, a Salt Lake City patent lawyer with Workman Nydegger agrees. "Placing 'Patent Pending' on a product can discourage competition," she says. But, Tangern notes that another advantage is that "investors always ask if you have a patent, even though they may not know how to evaluate how good the patent is." SonicScrubbers has labeled its scrubber with the "Patent Pending" notation. "It's hard to measure how effective that notation is in discouraging competitors." Cobabe says, "but it would make a competitor do some extra research to try to find out what we have."

Similarly, John Robinson, a physician, has developed a portable medical-records storage device, the Bartlett, for sale through his Utah-based company, PEHR Technologies. He is obtaining a patent to improve the marketability of his company, as well as his product. "PEHR Technologies will be more valuable to investors and purchasers because we've put in the time, effort and money to get the patent," he says.

Money on the Table

Tangren encourages clients to do a cost/benefit analysis before investing in a patent. "Patents can be expensive, costing up to $15,000 or $20,000 over the life of the patent. It may also be three to four years before the patent issues." For that expenditure, patents are typically issued for 20 years from the date of filing. Tangren says, "The question to ask is, 'Can I recoup my investment for the monopoly which the patent gives me?'"

Sara Jones, another patent attorney with Workman Nydegger, notes that some clients develop large portfolios of patents to use for licensing leverage. Companies often cross-license their designs in order to obtain technology they need from other companies. "In the company's core business," Jones says, "patents are essential to keep others from infringing on company technology or designing around it." She...