Calling all lawyers!

The 3^rd Annual Super Marketing Conference will take place on Thursday, May 16, 2013 at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts.

What makes this all-day conference special?

1. It was created by lawyers for lawyers.  This conference specifically addresses the unique marketing requirements of our profession keeping in mind our ethics rules and marketing constraints.  There’s also a heavy focus on the needs of solo and small firm attorneys.
2. You can attend from anywhere.  They’re offering an on-line viewing option.  You can register to attend via the web here.
3. The conference offers great networking opportunities for solo and small firm lawyers.  If you can, you really should attend in person to maximize the experience.  Register to join in person here.
4. It’s affordable at only $69!  Breakfast and lunch are included.   And last but not least…
5. It will help you market your firm and your services better.

This year’s conference will focus on web marketing, with an impressive lineup of speakers addressing lawyer advertising online.  Avvo Founder and CEO Mark Britton will be the keynote speaker, and will address ‘Ten Opportunities Lawyers Miss in Online Marketing’.

If you’re a solo or small firm lawyer who needs help with your marketing, you really should attend.

I get nothing out of telling you this.  I just love this conference.  I’ve gone the past 2 years, and walked away both times with great information, new contacts, and a sense that I can tackle this marketing thing.  I wouldn’t miss it this year and I don’t want you to miss out on a great learning opportunity.

You can find all of the details here.

Patents are limited, legal monopolies.

By their very nature, they are exclusionary.  They keep people, companies, and competitors out.

If you have a patent you have the right to exclude others from the space that the patent covers.  In essence, as a patent owner, you have the right to stop competition for a short period of time.

Think about that.

Patents are very powerful.

Hi Everyone.

Can you believe it’s that time of year again?

The weather up here in New England is turning cold, the leaves have already fallen, and the Holiday catalogues are in the mailbox.

It’s the time of year when we small business owners and solo entrepreneurs look at our to do lists and ask “How can I possibly get all of this done before the end of the year?”  Sadly, the answer that typically comes back is “You’re not.”   I know about this first hand.

It’s been an eventful year for me with lots of changes to the business.  There’s been a new website, new products, and a new attitude.

I reignited my passion for intellectual property in January.  It has taken me longer than I thought to get things into shape. There have been false starts, major edits, and few course corrections along the way.  C’est la vie!  This is the life of the entrepreneur and I’m loving every minute of it.

I’m truly grateful for the business that I am building, and I would just like to say thank you to those who are helping me navigate this journey.

First, to Monica, a very smart, creative woman who became my friend this year.  Thank you for listening to my crazy ideas, encouraging me to move forward, and bringing me down to reality on occasion.  I love our lunch dates!

Second, to Tea, a very saucy gal.  Thank you for helping me use my words.  You taught me more than you will ever know about websites, copywriting, and reaching an audience.

Third, to my Lincoln Mastermind Group.  I learn so much from each and every one of you.  Your passion for your businesses really blows me away.  Thank you for your honesty and compassion.  I know that you understand.

Fourth, to Valerie, a new friend building her own dream.  I look forward to watching your journey through entrepreneurship.

Last on the list but first in my heart, to Bob and Amanda.  Bob, you make this entire journey worth it.  I am so grateful to be sharing this life with you.  Amanda Rose, I truly do this for you!  The only job title I will ever need is “Amanda’s Mom”.

Peace and blessings to you all.  I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!

This week I am honored to have written a guest post over at the Solo Practice University blog.  For those of you unfamiliar with SPU, it is an on-line educational resource for newly-graduated attorneys and their older, more experienced breathren alike, who want to hang out their own shingle.

From the SPU website:

It’s a single online destination where lawyers and law students learn the basics of running a solo practice, take classes and get expert feedback from lawyers and business professionals in specialized fields.

In my post, I talk about my journey so far as a solo attorney.  I am candid about my missteps, how I am taking charge of my career, and redefining my practice on my own terms.

This is such an exciting time for me.  I am gearing up for a big relaunch of my business next month.  Big, new things are on the horizon.

I am so happy that I can tell my story, and show other lawyers how important it is to work on your own terms (because I forgot why I wanted to do this in the first place).

Thank you, Susan, for giving me the forum.

Here’s a link to the blog post.

Intellectual property can be a difficult subject for creative people.

Copyrights can be confusing.  Contracts can get in the way of getting your art out to the world.

But,authors, artists, and designers need to think about how to protect their creations.

Where should they start?   What should they look out for?

Listen to my interview with Monica Lee and find out…

My friend Monica hosts a show on her website Smart Creative Women.  Normally, she interviews smart, funny, successful women working in creative jobs.  Think artists, illustrators, and designers building businesses and brands from their art.  Her interviews are insightful and bold because she talks about things few dare to discuss in the creative community.  She focuses on topics like their business models, their passions, how they monetize their creative endeavors, and how they balance their lives, all while showcasing her interviewees great passion and creative expression.

A month or so ago, I had the privilege of sitting down with my dear friend for an interview on her show.  I know what you’re thinking, ‘What does non-creative Lawyer Kelli Proia bring to this table?’  Just trust me.  We made it work.

You see.  Monica and I are friends and business buddies.  We met through a mutual friend and discovered that we are both building new businesses that have one important thing in common.   We’re both trying to do something a little different in our little corner of the world.   Monica’s trying to nix the idea of the starving, struggling artist and shed some light on how artists can build money making businesses from their art.  Me?  I’m trying to get businesses, and the lawyers who love them, to rethink the way they talk about IP.   Monica and I spend a lot of time talking about our struggles and triumphs as business owners, our goals, our strategies, our money issues, and the challenges of being wives and mothers.

One of the central themes in our on-going conversation revolves around the concept of ‘value’.  We push each other to recognize and further our value.  When you are sitting by yourself in your home office, it can be pretty difficult to recognize your value sometimes.  She thought it would be great if we could bring our weekly lunch talks to the masses.

While we tried to keep our gossip to a minimum, I think we did a good job talking about knowing your value, standing up for yourself, and recognizing that it is OK to say ‘NO’ to a bad deal.  Of Course, we also discuss how to protect yourself with good contracts and intellectual property.

I hope you enjoy this interview.  It was a pleasure to make.

I think all organizations have intellectual property in some way, shape, or form.  Whether their big or small, for profit or non-profit, mom-and-pop shops to giant multi-nationals, IP is everywhere.  Even restaurants have their secret sauce.

Lots of companies recognize their IP and track it.  In fact, they track the heck out of it.  If the company acknowledges its existence, then there is a database and files somewhere.  Someone has a list of serial numbers and dates.

Some actually manage it.  The management team cares about IP and its impact on the business.  They have employee education and policies directed to protecting their IP in a bigger way.  They implement IP monitoring programs to manage risk.  The company looks for ways to use it to boost their business.  They set goals and metrics to see if they’re doing a good job managing it.

A few companies really use their IP.  They actively engage in intellectual property licensing and/or IP litigation activities.  They search out and stop counterfeit goods.  They work safely with third parties on joint projects.  These companies use their IP as a true business asset.  And let me be clear.  There’s a difference between using the technology disclosed in the patent and using the patent.

Unfortunately, most companies don’t move past the tracking phase in the IP Administration process.  Most organizations identify their IP pretty well.  They spend money protecting and tracking it.  And what does all of this lead to?  In the end, the company sits on it, filling filing cabinets with folders and paper, and databases with numbers and dates.

I refer to these organizations as ‘IP Hoarders’.  They systematically rack up big legal bills accumulating lots of patents and trademarks.  Then, they stockpile it.

They just don’t know any better.  These companies set out on this path long ago.  ‘I invent therefore I patent’ is their motto.  It’s what they’ve always done.  They honestly believe they’re doing everything they can (and should) be doing to protect their intellectual assets.  I think they would be surprised if I told them that they were doing only half the job.

If your business is investing its hard earned dollars into patents and trademarks, ask yourself: what are we doing with these assets?  If your answer is ‘nothing’ or ‘I don’t know’, then it’s probably time to take a hard look at why you are spending money on a business asset you don’t really use.  It might be time to review your current strategy and make some important changes.

If I compulsively spent lots of money on large amounts of stuff that I never plan to use and it clutters up my home, what would you call me?  A hoarder.  Well, what would you call a company that builds up its IP portfolio for the sake of simply having a portfolio?

You’ve got 3 guesses, and the first two don’t count!

It starts out fairly innocently.  You’re a start-up: 2 people with a great invention.  You want to protect that invention, so you call a patent attorney.  The patent attorney drafts and files a patent application and your company is off and running.

You start selling a product with a snazzy name, so you get some trademarks.  Your company is successful.  You grow.  You invent more.  You call your patent attorney more often.

Before you know it you’ve got 20 employees, some great products, and a small intellectual property portfolio.  And this is where you fall into a trap.

The trap is thinking what you have been doing to protect your IP is enough.  The trap is thinking ‘we invented, we patented, so we’re done’.  It’s the idea that all you need to do to create a strong IP portfolio is get the patent or register the trademark.  Like that’s all there is to it.  But there is so much more.

This is not a trap you want to fall into.  Protecting your IP is not an event, like ‘We got the patent.  Check that off the list.’  Getting the patent is the tip of the ice berg.

There’s a lot more to creating a successful IP portfolio than just securing patents and trademarks.  In fact, capturing your intellectual property is just 1 (out of 12!) component for maintaining a strong IP portfolio.  It’s actually #5 on my list!

So how do you avoid the trap?

The best way is to build a strong foundation for managing your intellectual property assets so that you can increase the return on the investment your making would be a good place to start.  (IP is a business asset that needs to be managed, remember?)

How do you build a strong foundation?  Implement the first 4 components of the IP in Focus IP Management System.

1.  IP Administration, Organization, and Budget.  At the start, you should decide what role IP will play in your company.  What do you want it to do for you?  What is the organization willing to do and who within the organization needs to do it in order to build a strong, successful IP portfolio?  How much are you willing to spend to make that happen?  You need to set goals, establish rules, and put the proper team together to make sure those goals are met.

2.  IP Reporting and Communications.  IP progress or setbacks must continuously be communicated to anyone in your organization that needs to know.

3.  IP Education.  You need to continuously tell your employees why intellectual property is important to you and your business.  Your employees need to understand what role they play in the IP process, and the rules they are expected to follow.  (Don’t assume they know.)

4.  IP Auditing.  You need a behind-the-scenes process that continuously identifies your intellectual property no matter where it resides in the company.

At some point, you need to move from merely capturing your IP to managing it.  Why?  Being more proactive allows you to get the most return on your investment in your intellectual property.

Capturing your intellectual property will always be important, but just capturing it will only get you so far.  As you grow your business, you need to change your behavior and approach your IP differently.

Be more proactive. Set IP goals, rules, and expectations, then work diligently to accomplish them.