The Traklight Blog

As a tech company, we love seeing young people with a passion and interest in the technology sector. It's not a stretch to say that technology is not only the future of our economy, but of humans as a species. Tech will enable us to accomplish things we had never before dreamed possible, and it's the young people of today who will be at the forefront of that innovation. That is why we are pleased to see local events aimed at celebrating the fields of science and technology and the kids involved in it.

Whenever I hear something repeated, questioned, or discussed by three independent sources, I consider it a sign that I should pay attention, and in today’s case, my personal “rule of three” inspired me to write this article. There are some amazing, exciting things happening in Arizona’s tech ecosystem, but we have to step back and look at this environment from an outsider’s perspective. To draw from Brad Feld’s books, I believe we should worry less about branding our community and instead focus on pushing forward. We should just freaking do it with the “it” being taking care of our businesses.

There are 500 million photos uploaded to Facebook every day and 40 million photos are posted on Instagram every day. (Source)

Impressive figures, but why do they matter? They matter because they represent opportunities, some that have been missed. With tens of hundreds of millions photos uploaded to social media every day, there's bound to be infringement on your content. Yes, YOURS. Let me explain in more detail below.

For as much fun as college can be, one of the least pleasant aspects of attending university is purchasing textbooks. As a student, you have the distinct privilege of paying hundreds of dollars for books that you'll only use for a brief period, *cough* if at all *cough*. And while yours truly was unlucky enough to attend college during the nascence of eCommerce, today's students have a litany of options when it comes to ordering books online and finding the best price. But one startup's price-comparison tool has a major textbook company threatening legal action.

This is the second of three posts (read Part 1 here) on the Worst IP Mistakes made in 2014 by some companies we spoke with last year.

I have written on this before but multiple questions about using open source code keep coming up with clients and in presentation question and answer. A couple of concepts are involved but at the root is copyright and the related licensing terms and conditions.

For those looking for a ride, whether it be heading home after a night on the town or going to the airport to catch a flight, Uber has become the go-to service to get you where you need to be. The service's appeal is based upon its ease of use and relative affordability compared to a traditional cab. With its continued expansion (Uber is now in 50 countries) and lurking competitors, protecting their intellectual property (IP) is a natural step for the company. But one filing has customers and onlookers alike in an uproar.

The Christmas season is a time when we become enamored with new things. I mean, sure, the season is about love and family and giving and some other stuff, but getting new things is pretty great too. Whether it's the hot new toy as a kid or the coolest gadget as you get older, who doesn't love getting something new under the tree? Fittingly enough, Traklight has something brand new for you just in time for the holiday, and you don't even have to unwrap it.

In today's world, you can never be too careful. The process of protecting your intangible assets, including your intellectual property (IP), can turn into a confusing, overwhelming, and expensive process. But it is a vital element necessary to all businesses. Here at Traklight, we understand your concerns when it comes to the value and protection of your IP. That's why we created our IP Vault^®. So what makes Traklight's IP Vault different from other cloud storage solutions?

This guest blog was written by patent attorney David Stein of Cooper Legal Group, a firm that specializes in providing a range of intellectual property services to clients in high-tech industries. David resides in Fairfax, VA, and frequently visits the patent office to conduct examiner interviews in furtherance of patent prosecution. David’s practice focuses on patent procurement for computing technologies, including software and electrical and computer engineering.

When individuals and companies develop valuable ideas, their first question is: "Can I patent this?"

Patents generally involve concepts that are functional and useful. Artistic works, such as books, music, and videos, are typically not patentable (but are likely protected by copyright); and other types of information, such as proprietary data, can be protected by trade secrets.

We take a lot of things for granted when it comes to technology. We don't bat an eye at our ability to press a couple buttons on our computer and print a document, or that we can touch an icon on our phone and open applications that provide us directions, news, or pictures of what people had for dinner. For that connectedness and interactivity, we have application programming interfaces to thank. Simply put, they enable different applications to communicate with one another, creating a digital ecosystem where your iPhone works with your Twitter account, which links to your Facebook account, and both are linked to your Instagram...you get the idea. But a court ruling this year has thrown the future of open source platforms into tumult.

“Maturing,” “emerging,” and “vibrant” are the commonly used words used to describe the Los Angeles (LA) tech ecosystem. Every night is full of multiple events across the city where LA’s tech community comes together to share about the entrepreneurial journey and offer their experiences to one another. 

The two events in the last few weeks stand out the most.

At Traklight, we share a lot of intellectual property (IP) horror stories (my vote is to set up a campfire and roast marshmallows over it next time).

There are countless examples — these are just some of our most recent submissions. Hold on to your loved ones, and brace yourselves.

Data security is one of the foremost concerns of our current digital age. With so much of our lives being hosted online, databases are a treasure trove of personally identifiable information for hackers. We like to believe that companies take the best measures possible to protect that information, and perhaps that’s true, but there are far too many stories of data security breaches to think that it’ll never happen to you. Personally, I can’t count the number of times I’ve worried  someone might gain access to sensitive information like financial statements, tax returns, “Lord of the Rings” fan fic...er, business documentation. And now one of the most popular cloud storage solutions may find itself under fire for security concerns.

Shay discusses some of the technical changes to our site in his Traklight Tech Talks blog.  In July, he discussed the newest IP Vault enhancements. Today's update is part 2 on recent IP Vault enhancements. Be sure to stay updated with these updates by subscribing to our blog.

Welcome back to Traklight Tech Talks! This month we’re highlighting some exciting new features we’ve added to ID your IP to make it an even more robust portrait of your business including intellectual property (IP).

Did you catch last night's season premeire of Shark Tank? If you have been busy working out the details of your innovation, you may not have had the opportunity to tune into this popular TV show on which entrepreneurs seek investments from five self-made multi-millionaires and billionaires.

If you have watched the TV show, then you know that once the business financials are highlighted, the next question the Sharks ask is, “Do you have a patent?” You also know that if there is no patent, or even a patent pending, each Shark immediately responds by saying, “I’m out.”

Let’s look at two essential reasons for the Sharks’ response, and how entrepreneurs benefit from patents: as a way to suppress potential competition and to get investors to say, “I’m in.”

Previously on our Taking the Scary Out of Startup series, we discussed why competition is a good thing.

Funding is Hard

Bootstrap, self-funding, debt, strategic partners, or angel capital–it’s all challenging. It’s a topic that is very near and dear to my heart as we had some very fun times last year with some angel group presentations. More on that later. :)

I have spoken on a few panels about funding, most recently at SXSW V2V and wrote about the experience for SUCCESS magazine. What follows are my five tips for fundraising.

As a new Traker, I expected that in time I would be going to conferences and presenting what ID your IP and IP Vault are to people new to Traklight, but I didn’t expect for it to be so soon. Nonetheless, duty called for me to be present. Knowing that I usually psych myself out way too much and still am able to perform most of the time, I thought it’ll be fine. Plus, I thought it’d be cool to see what other people are creating and innovating (I wonder how many times people said “innovating” that day). 

Going in to set up for the day at the AZ Innovation Summit was interesting because I haven’t seen the large Traklight poster before and it was a 2-person effort to put it all the way up. Soon after I finished meticulously arranging the stickers into a smiley face and the pens into a T shape, I went around the hall looking at other exhibitors’s booths, of which I noticed many were based around STEM education. Many of the attendees were also educators or worked at an educational/academic institution. 

Previously on our Taking the Scary Out of Startup series, we discussed becoming an expert and paying it forward.

Competition is a Good Thing

When you do not have competition, you basically have no choice but to evangelize like a madwoman to get your company’s name and products out there. 

Previously in our Intellectual Property (IP) Best Practices series, we introduced step six to managing your IP: well-drafted agreements. Please check back every Monday for the next step in this series.

Intellectual property (IP) is continuously created in all innovative companies so if a proper discovery and disclosure protocol is not in place, employees may disclose IP by mistake. It is important to establish a process by which discovery becomes a regular affair. One of the best way for a business to ensure compliance is to provide incentives for employees to come forth proactively.

Previously on our Taking the Scary Out of Startup series, we discussed why relationships matter to the success of your startup.