Sports and Games: Patents, Trademarks, and IP Related Issues for Sporting Goods

J.D. and Matt brought on a Bold Patents client, Terry Vance, owner of Blitz Lures and inventor of the "Live Foot" independent sonar transducer which solves the problem of not being able to see fish or look the way you want because all other transducers are dependent on the direction/facing of the trolling motor.
Terry walked the audience through his journey to get his patent and was happy to explain that he's invested in his patent portfolio by filing a child/continuation patent that is still pending. PLUS he's found an infringer and has begun enforcing his patent against them and they are using the pending application as leverage to cover a broader invention that more closely aligns to the infringers patent!
The three of us then critiqued a basketball ball net/retrieval system that was pitched on Shark Tank. The "Grind" product helps basketball players work on their shot by catching missed/made shots and returning the ball to the player instead of the player having to go get the rebound and waste time. JD briefly discussed that a utility patent is what he'd recommend going for, but it didn't see like Grind or any inventor had filed for the protection. Matt Kulseth couldn't find a trademark filing either - so the product looked good, but his IP was shallow or empty, not a solid footing to be on.

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Everything discussed on this podcast is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice.