Sell Your Ideas with or Without a Patent

by Stephen Key

Think you need a patent? Think again. Many of the products Stephen Key has licensed required no intellectual property protection whatsoever, yet have made millions in royalties. But Key also knows what it takes to protect a big idea. Years ago, after reading about how medication bottles rarely contain enough space for the information that needs to be printed on them, he was inspired to develop an innovative label technology. The Spinformation rotating label has been licensed on products the world over, is protected by 20 U.S. and international patents, and has received more than 13 industry awards. To put it Key knows how to use intellectual property to profit. This book will teach you how Get a licensing contract with or without intellectual property Write a provisional patent application that stops others from stealing your idea Find and hire a killer patent attorney (they are not all created equal!) Save thousands of dollars on legal expenses File patents that have true value Negotiate a win-win agreement It also details Stephen’s experience defending his patents in Federal Court—a David versus Goliath saga he has never before written about at length—as well as provides tips about how to avoid a licensing contract from going bad.

Genres: Business

Paperback

Reviews

[Joseph Ruocco · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to highlight key take aways, important information, etc. Never have I ever encountered so much highlight worthy material in a book as I did with this one. Great book to learn about stablishing perceived ownership over your inventions, how to write strong PPA, negotiate with licensing deals, NDAs, idea research with go or no go criteria, and more. Very clear writing and to the point with wonderful insight to some of his litigation case against Lego company. Great read

[Dawn Colclasure · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good information for new inventors!

I discovered this book while doing research for my own and I gotta say, I am now a follower of Stephen Key! I want to sign up for his courses and keep this book on hand for when I make the leap to get my own ideas for tech stuff turned into products. This book shared so much good information and I learned a lot. I loved the story at the end. I highly recommend this book.

[T. Ryan Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was initial skeptical that this book was just a spin-off of Key's One Simple Idea, which I have already read (see review below). I was pleasantly surprised that there's enough non-overlap information that I can recommend both books! I do recommend One Simple Idea be read first, in order to get a good understanding of Key's approach to licensing. This book is a great next resource for more a more detailed guide to the provisional patent application (PPA). This book really did make me more confident to attempt writing my own PPAs, and also provided more strategy about how and when to use them.

I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting (or thinking he wants to) patent any idea.

Thanks to Precipice IP for giving me this book as part of a sweepstakes they hosted!

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Succinctly written with practicality in mind, this is an excellent book for those interested in bringing ideas to the marketplace. Not quite as good as his other book though

[Jeffrey A. McMillan · Rating 5 out of 5]

He is wordy.

I did not try to look at his labeling, but he is the one that has that sticky labeling. It is a quite aggravating piece of labeling.

[Mark Stapel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Added to notes

[Cody Faldyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his book Key reveals many stories, tactics, and tips on how to effectively protect an invention idea in order to earn royalties from it in the future. The goal of the book is to teach you how to fill out a patent application for the USPTO, save large amounts of money on the legal expenses that come with patenting, find an excellent patent attorney, and win over a licensing contract.

For your convenience, we had Stephen Key on our podcast, The Entrepreneurs Library, to give a deep dive on Sell Your Ideas With or Without A Patent. With Stephen’s experience he gives amazing insight on how to master the art of bringing any invention idea to life. If you would like to get a more in-depth look from the author himself check out episode 214 on the EL website or you can find the show on iTunes.