Prioritizing Market Validation Before Patent Filing

Want to waste half your pre-production budget? File patents before you even know if your product works. I’m serious. I’ve sat with founders who raised $1.5M for pre-production. First $100K? Straight to legal filings. They thought they were protecting their precious “idea.” 6 months later: - No DFM review - No validated suppliers - Absolutely no yield data But hey, they had a patent certificate framed on the wall. Here’s what most founders don’t get: Competitors aren’t your first risk. Your margins are. If your BOM crashes under scrutiny, if resin allocations shift, if compliance flags late — that patent won’t save you. The smart founders flip it. They take the same $100K and pour it into: - Locking their design package so factories know what to build - Running stress tests to protect yield before scale - Securing early adopters who reorder before patents are even filed And here’s the thing: Investors aren’t fooled. They don’t care about paper protection if you can’t ship. The founder who says, “We filed three patents” looks defensive. The founder who says, “We validated yield, margins, and early adopter traction with our first $100K” is unstoppable. In the pre-production stage of your business, execution beats protection every time. Because there’s no prize for being first to file. Only for being first to scale. You’d never let your CFO burn $100K on paperwork while your supply chain was crashing out. So why let legal do it?

Tip: Conduct market research before you patent! 🔍 No matter how brilliant the idea, without a market need, it will fail. That’s why doing market research as early as possible is important. It reduces the risk of investing resources in an unviable product or service. In a nutshell, market research involves: => 🎯 Identifying the problem your product solves. => 💰 Determining market demand: Who needs this problem solved? What are they willing to pay? What other solutions are out there? => 📊 Assessing market size, scalability and potential profitability to determine commercial viability. Note that none of this should include disclosing your invention! In many countries, if you share your invention publicly before filing a patent application, you will lose the right to patent it. So even if the temptation is strong, never publicly disclose your invention before filing a patent application! Market research can be helpful for your IP strategy in various ways. 💪 Better patent applications: - A deep understanding of a product's unique advantages and the problem(s) it solves is a great foundation for a patent application. - Refinements made to meet customer needs can also enhance patentability. 🛡️ Deeper understanding of risks: - Market research can help position your IP portfolio against competitors and anticipate potential issues, like a must-have feature owned by a competitor. - Knowing your product and market improves your chances of building a fit-for-purpose IP strategy from the start, saving time and resources. 🧠 Improved strategic decision-making: - Market insights allow better informed long-term IP decisions, e.g., whether to patent, register a trademark, and/or opt for a trade secret. Hence, market research is not just helpful for defining your business plan or guiding your product development. It can also assist you in making informed decisions about your patent applications and IP strategy. Remember, however, never to disclose your invention before filing a patent application. Have you used market research in your patenting decisions?

In your startup’s early stages, feeling extremely optimistic about future success is expected. But according to Wilbur Labs, 27% of startups fail because they built a product the market didn’t buy. Stress-testing your assumptions against the market through a structured 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 approach is priority #1 before or at the MVP stage. 👇 ✅ A good market validation process will tell you if your target market is willing to pay for your product or service (maybe even how much 💲) ❌ A destructive market validation process contains vanity metrics and false positives. Here are four ways to validate your startup idea against the market 👇 → Customer Development  Engage with potential customers for feedback. Once you identify your target audience, prepare questions and conduct interviews to gather as much feedback as possible.     → Pre-sales  Try selling your product or service before it’s fully developed. Set up an attractive landing page and offer pre-sale prices to measure market demand.       → Waitlists Set up a landing page for sign-ups and promote for early access. Once you’re ready to launch, you’ll have an existing customer base to reach out to. → Wizard of Oz Gather customer feedback and market demand through a mockup of your product—there is no need to wait for complete development to gather customer insights. The faster you validate your idea against the market, the more signs of market pull you’ll likely feel when you officially launch an MVP. If you feel stuck here, send me a DM! I’m open to connecting with other founders to provide actionable advice based on my experience founding, scaling, and exiting my previous startup. 📈 #startups #founders #mvp #entrepreneurs #venturecapital

Can you start selling your invention even if it’s not patented or pending?🧐 This is one of the most common dilemmas I hear from inventors and startup founders. The excitement of launching your product in the market often overshadows the legal and strategic side of innovation. Let me share a story that reflects this reality. An engineer created a revolutionary eco-friendly water bottle that could keep liquids cool for 48 hours without electricity. She was eager to get it into the hands of customers, so she began selling locally before filing a patent. The response was overwhelming, sales grew, the product gained visibility, and soon competitors were watching closely. Within months, another company launched a nearly identical bottle. When she eventually moved to file a patent, she hit a wall. Her own sales and public exposure counted as prior disclosure. In jurisdictions like Europe, this meant her invention was no longer patentable. Years of hard work suddenly became a lost opportunity. Now, contrast this with James Dyson’s approach. When he was developing the first bagless vacuum, Dyson filed patent applications while still refining and testing his prototypes. He didn’t wait for the patents to be granted before approaching investors or testing the market. By securing his filing date early, he ensured that no one else could claim ownership of his core technology. That strategy gave him leverage, not just against copycats, but also in building investor confidence. So, can you sell without a patent or pending application? Technically, yes. But should you? That depends on your risk appetite. 👉 In the USA 🇺🇸 you may have a limited grace period after disclosure. 👉 In Europe and many other regions, public disclosure immediately destroys novelty. The smarter route for most innovators is to file at least a provisional application before entering the market. It locks in your filing date, gives you time to refine your invention, and protects your competitive edge while you explore business opportunities. 🧑🏻💻Quick sales might give you a head start, but protecting your idea first gives you long-term ownership, bargaining power, and peace of mind. #Patents #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #BusinessStrategy #Startups #IPR

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟱 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 (𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 Jon I. Bergsteinsson) “You can have the best technology in the world and still fail” 𝗪𝗵𝘆? 𝗔𝘀 𝗝𝗼́𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗲: “They focus too much on just developing beautiful technology… instead of actually thinking about everything else that’s running it” 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆: 1️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Most founders do this once, then never again Keep interviewing clinicians, payers, distributors and end users throughout development Ask: • “Is this still the right problem to solve?” • “Would you pay for it?” • “What would stop you from using it?”    This informs design, pricing and launch strategy and becomes gold for post-market surveillance 2️⃣ 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗚𝗼-𝗧𝗼-𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 Know exactly how money changes hands • Who’s the buyer (not just the user)? • Will you sell directly or through distributors? • Will reimbursement be part of your sales model?    A slide that says “We’ll use distributors” is not a strategy. You need a business model before planning for regulations 3️⃣ 𝗠𝗩𝗣 𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 Even a rough prototype changes the conversation It shows investors and users you can execute, and it gives you something tangible for early testing and feedback If you can’t demo it, you can’t sell it internally or externally 4️⃣ 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 & 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗮𝘆 Decide your markets, classification, and route early These choices determine: • Your clinical trial requirements • How long will approvals take • How much capital you need    Skipping this step often leads to multi-year, six-figure detours 5️⃣ 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 A patent is not protection if you don’t have the 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 Check competing patents in your target markets Plan whether to file locally, regionally, or internationally and when A robust IP position increases valuation and makes you a more attractive acquisition target These five areas are where most MedTech startups win or fail 🎙️ Hear the full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/efNENZ3g Which of these do you think founders most often underestimate?