by Michael Lechter
When Robert Kiyosaki -- author of the best-selling books "Rich Dad,
Poor Dad" and the 'Rich Dad series -- sought the legal services of
Michael Lechter, a top intellectual property (IP) and patent attorney
with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Phoenix, Arizona, he brought with
him a prototype of his new board game 'CashFlow 101' and a steely
determination not to repeat history.
Twenty years prior, Kiyosaki developed a nylon and Velcro wallet --
dubbed the 'surfer wallet'. Sales exceeded his wildest expectations.
But he neglected to protect his invention by securing a patent and,
three years later, when competitors stormed the marketplace with
'knock-offs', sales plummeted. The company folded the following year.
Lechter, who has since joined the team of Rich Dad's Advisors and
written the book 'Protecting Your #1 Asset," guided Kiyosaki through
the legal maze of patent, trademark and copyright protection for the
'Cashflow 101' and 'Cashflow for Kids' games. He encourages all
innovators to implement basic strategies to sustain competitive
advantages, and ensure that they -- as opposed to competitors --
profit from their innovations.
Five Key Steps:
Lechter details five key steps that every creator of a game or toy --
or any product -- should follow:
1. Keep contemporaneous records of product development; sign and
date each entry, and have it witnessed. There are a number of
circumstances which might require proving what you did and when.
2. Develop a protection strategy. Legal protection mechanisms
(trade secrets, utility patents, design patents, trademarks,
copyrights, and mask work protection) can be used sequentially and/or
concurrently to protect different product aspects.
3. Consider patent protection early - after you've gone to
market is too late in most of the world! In the U.S., an inventor has
one year from the first commercialization, or public disclosure of
the invention in which to file a patent application.
Most other countries do not have any such grace period. Filing a
patent application early in the development cycle of a product can
also minimize the time that the product is on the market before a
patent is granted.
4. Consciously build intellectual property into your product.
Any distinctive, non-utilitarian aspect of your product can become a
trademark including e.g., color schemes (trade dress),
non-utilitarian design elements, smell, even sound (music or voice).
5. Before putting a product on the market, investigate potential
adverse third party patents or trademarks. You can do a preliminary
investigation online at USPTO.gov. A patent attorney should be
consulted for comprehensive investigations.
Lechter, in intellectual property since 1972, is an adjunct professor
at Arizona State University and a featured presenter for The Learning
Annex. He is committed to educating business owners and entrepreneurs
about turning competitive advantages into assets and ensuring that a
company's creativity and innovation are its number one assets.
Michael Lechter, Esq. is an attorney specializing in intellectual
property (IT) law since the early 1970's and handled the
patent-protection on Robert's game CASHFLOW#174; 101. Author of
Protecting Your #1 Asset, Michael teaches people how to turn ideas
into income-generating assets.
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