According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, inventors in the Baton Rouge metro area obtained 1,367 utility patents between 2000 and 2013, the most recent year for which data is available. That placed the Capital Region at No. 118 among all U.S. metro areas for utility patents—the most common type of patent—defined as new and useful processes, machines, devices, manufactured items or compounds, or any new useful improvements to the same.
As Business Report details in its new cover package, “Patents Trending,” data also shows the number of patents awarded here has steadily grown every year between 2009 and 2013, when 77 patents were awarded locally.
Devin Ricci, an intellectual property and registered patent attorney with Kean Miller, believes that’s the reason the protection of novel innovation in Louisiana is on the rise.
“It seems as though the interest is growing for patent protection in Baton Rouge, and not just patent protection. … The [intellectual property] landscape in Louisiana, for a while, was lagging, and it is starting to catch up at a very fast pace.”
Ricci attributes the growth to an increasing awareness of the importance and the benefits of developing a personal brand, which, in many cases, is best achieved by utilizing a combination of the four areas of intellectual property rights: patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.
While many businesses and entrepreneurs use a combination of these, others may rely on patents or trade secrets—which, broadly speaking, can be any confidential information that is not generally known or ascertainable by others, and provides a competitive edge—to separate a company from competitors.
“It really depends on what you are trying to protect,” Ricci says.
For seasoned technologist and serial entrepreneur Robert Guba, a patent is the foundation on which he has built successful businesses.
As CEO and co-founder of Cellcontrol, a technology firm with a mission to stop distracted driving, Guba has secured a majority of the market through strategic third party partnerships, working with Fortune 500 and 1000 companies and fostering direct relationships with consumers.
For Cellcontrol, patents provide both an offensive and defensive strategy, Guba explains. “Offensively, it gives us the freedom to operate,” he says. “Defensively, it brings value within the company for us; there is protection in a barrier to entry or a perceived barrier to entry.”
In Baton Rouge, higher education and research institutions fuel the majority of the region’s innovation, while large corporations such as Albemarle and IBM constitute a close second. However, just because a patent originates here doesn’t mean the Capital Region will see the economic return, says LSU professor and Vice Chancellor of Research and Economic Development Kalliat Valsaraj.
“One of the things I would say clearly distinguishes Baton Rouge from other metro cities is that many of the industries that are in this area don’t have their research divisions here that much, so whatever patents are produced here are not immediately translated into useful products by the industry here,” he explains.
Though the benefits of securing a patent can be many, pursuing one comes with some serious risk. Securing a patent generally takes between two to four years and can cost anywhere from $10,000 to upward of $40,000. And once you start investing time and money into the process, there’s no guarantee that you’ll actually end up with a patent in hand.
Read the full cover package, which includes profiles of local firms including Magnetic Cool, Hydra-Guard, CAP Technologies, and Enviroguard Technologies Inc. Also, be sure to check out a sidebar story on nine tips for those seeking a patent for the first time.
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