The Traklight Blog

Our own Mary Juetten joined the MakerSource Podcast to talk with Bob Merriman on a recent episode. Mary and Bob talked about the origins of Traklight and where the idea came from, how many startups make the mistake of ignoring or putting off IP concerns like patents or trademarks until it's too late, and the importance of protecting the "secret sauce' of your business given how many companies work in the same industry or market. They also discuss how entrepreneurs can be unaware of what they don't know when it comes to IP, and how that can lead to mistakes like not having employment agreements or NDAs for employees, not considering the security of their private data or files, or infringing on others' IP inadvertently. They also talk about how Traklight works to help startups identify their business risks and potential intellectual property and avoid early-stage mistakes with ID your IP. 

While in law school, I came up with the idea for Traklight when I saw the errors made by small business owners during my time in the Tech Ventures clinic. For one company, the lack of a business entity and co-founder agreements created such havoc that it set them back a year. I distinctly remember thinking, "if only these entrepreneurs knew about some simple first steps, they could have avoided wasting time and money." Our mission at Traklight is to remove the guesswork from starting up and running a small business. We provide a roadmap to success using software to identify issues and provide education and resources.

In business, as in life, one of the most important things you can do is ask the right questions. And there are so many questions out there, from "Should I start my own business?" to "How is this Columbia House membership NOT a good idea?"

At Traklight, our questionnaire is designed with all your business questions in mind (you're on your own with Columbia House). Sure, there's the slimmest of possibilities you may succeed charging forward at one hundred miles an hour with little regard for anything that may be considered an obstacle. But it's far more likely that the cautious, careful, and inquisitive entrepreneur will be the one to create lasting success. Our most recent additions to our questionnaire will help those entrepreneurs by asking even more questions about their business and intellectual property and create a detailed strategy to protect themselves.

Traklight is always striving to offer exciting new features and options for our existing clients as well as new customers. From new questions in our questionnaire to new ways to visualize and understand your intangible assets, we have created a product that allows users to understand what they have now and what steps they need to take, both now and in the future, to protect those assets. And with our latest product addition, anyone can start this process for free.

Traditional Intellectual Property Lessons Learned

Everything is simple in hindsight, am I right? Learn from other people's experiences in this post. With an interview of ALICE app founders, Mary digs deeper in what this startup went through on the way to producing their product. 

You asked and we answered

During our years of working with entrepreneurs, the idea of a Traklight stamp or score has been raised numerous times. While the reports are informative with detailed information on next steps, we all like a quick, single measure that tells us how we're doing. Since we relaunched the platform last spring, we have been working hard to create an easy-to-read visual representation of your business' planning and preparedness, as well as helping to lay out a road map to future success. We're proud to say that the Risk Chart now provides that road map, and we leveraged that to create the Traklight Assessment Grade (TAG).

Well, what do you think?! After much hard work and lots of Traker teamwork, we did it! We've been talking about this website update for a while: streamlining our message for customers, clarifying how our products can help, and for the girly-ness in me, just making it pretty (you know, with one of those infinitely-scrolling, pictures-out-to-the-edges-of-the-screen type websites). With the remodel came the chance to re-brand; the chance to spruce up our logo, and move to a brighter, more modern orange, gray, and blue theme.

Now, while that's definitely a perk (yes, I'm a marketer, so this makes me infinitely happy!), the real meat of awesomeness I can sum up with the following: updated messaging, introducing Traklight Pro, and offering our Basic IP Vault free (we also have some cool new eCommerce features, some of which we've talked about recently, others that we will introduce to you soon).

I have been very fortunate in 2014 to meet hundreds of entrepreneurs and small business owners across the US, and even spend some time chatting on Skype with overseas early stage companies.

In the spirit of holiday lists and lessons learned, this is the first of three posts on the worst intellectual property (IP) mistakes I have seen made in 2014. Of course there is a tie to IP and money or valuation of the venture.

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?

I know it can be annoying or often downright difficult to figure out what is fair use and what is not fair use of copyrighted material, but that never means it is 100% free to distribute or even rebrand it as your own. If you think about it, adhering to the rules of protected intellectual property (IP) is really just a complicated version of a lesson we all learned in kindergarten: Don’t take what isn’t yours. 

Can you smell the holidays in the air? I'm talking about those scrumptious cinnamon-scented pine cones that just make you want to belt out "Jingle Bells" at the top of your lungs in the middle of the cereal aisle. 

With the holidays on our mind, we extended our Cyber Monday deal (ID your IP for only $59) though the end of the day today!

No business wants to give away its products. As an attorney, when you spend time evaluating potential clients that don't pan out, you're giving away your product—valuable billable hours. If a client needs only basic professional services and your firm is looking for bigger opportunities, your efforts can be time wasted.

With the right technology your firm can identify a potential client's intellectual property, determine contract needs, and reveal legal issues that need your expertise. Since the process is initiated at the clerical level, most client pre-qualification information can be gathered without lawyer involvement or time. The lawyer's first notice of a potential client can be accompanied by enough relevant information to determine the next step.

The threat is there, and is every creator's worst nightmare! Zombies lurking in the mist, ready to tear your and your intellectual property (IP) to shreds. Patent trolls stalking you in your sleep, patiently waiting for the right moment to attack—

Well maybe not zombies, but protecting your intellectual property (IP) can be kinda scary. We want to stop history from repeating itself, which is why we're making another call out to the entrepreneurial community to share their worst IP horror stories. 

Just answer these simple three questions to be featured on our blog:

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).

Previously in our Traklight Trakers Series, we introduced you to one of our Administrative Interns, Erik Kuper. Today's feature is our other intern, Eric.

Eric was born in Plano, Texas, a city just north of the Big-D. Hardly calling himself a Texan as he only lived in the Lone Star State for several months, Eric has more claim to the title of “Arizonan,” having spent most of his life living in the farmlands of Gilbert, AZ.

Growing up, Eric’s family and friends were avid campers; weekends were often spent in the northern parts of Arizona relaxing in the cooler weather and roasting s’more’s over campfires. As if he could not get enough off the outdoors, Eric joined a Boy Scout troop along with his younger brother. They both progressed their way up through the ranks, ending with the rank of Eagle Scout. Although much busier now in his college years, Eric still goes out for the occasional Camelback Mountain hike and is hoping to start exploring the great outdoors through other avenues such as kayaking.

I've never been to a hackathon. To be honest, I've never experienced anything quite like it. I couldn't believe that some of the participants hadn't slept in 36 hours because they were still all furiously typing away, smiling and laughing with each other!

But why would any of these young coders, developers, and entrepreneurs care to be interested in Traklight or intellectual property (IP)? 

Imagine: You're an entrepreneur working hard in the lab or slaving over a hot yellow legal pad coming up with the next big idea; the next invention that is going to change everything. Finally you arrive at the solution! You rush into the streets, into a grocery store and shout it out at the top of your lungs.

While seeking funding from investors or being acquired, the first step most third parties conduct is due diligence. Diligence is basically an in-depth review of a business’ official and legal documents. In case of startups composed predominantly of intellectual property, diligence is conducted to assure that the intellectual property actually belongs to them, preventing future infringement suits or licensing deals. Keeping your documents in order is a very important part of running a successful business.