Investing in patent, design and trade mark protection is no different to investing in other assets, in that it is important to have a plan at the outset. This should involve an assessment of the costs, the risks and the benefits.
It's important to approach the plan in objective fashion. All too often, inventors are so excited by their (potentially very good) idea that they fail to see the long, difficult and uncertain road from that idea to a profit.
As Roger La Salle eloquently puts it ( here):
Putting together a business plan is a time for sober reflection, a time to put enthusiasm aside, to decide how best to allocate your project resources and whether the project should proceed at all, to reduce the risk of starting on a journey that you can't complete or that is unlikely to lead to profit.
This simple diligence at the start of a project is a first and critical step towards a successful project outcome.
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