The Biggest Retailer Was No Match for This Entrepreneur

Award-winning inventor Dan Brown on how his successful ‘Bionic Wrench’ was knocked off by the largest U.S. retailer and the patent battle that he both won and lost.

Understanding IP Matters is brought to you by the nonprofit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) with generous support from its partners and sponsors. The podcast provides leading innovators and experts the space to share their IP stories.

Chapters

• 2:05 Invention starts with creative problem-solving
• 2:50 A patent that doesn’t solve the problem is a boat anchor; a ‘vanity’ right
• 5:50 Early on I knew I needed to understanding IP rights; reading patents is a form of research
• 7:00 I was committed to making the product in the U.S.
• 9:15 We won ‘willful infringement’ against Sears & Apex Tools
• 10:50 'I’ve seen the winds shift, especially for inventors'
• 13:00 'I don’t believe that patent quality today is any less than 40 years ago'
• 15:35 We have to stop the ‘gamification’ of the patent system
• 18:32 Building face shields early in the pandemic
• 20:21 Students: seek real-time problems that need solving now
• 21:30 Sell-one, give-one. It’s a win-win
• 22:15 What do you wish you had known earlier?