Publish a virtual patent marking registry on your website in minutes with Patent Status.

Today's featured member, Patent Status, is the only virtual marking solution that enables you to use your own patent marking and publish that registry of patent-to-product relationships on your web site.

What inspired you to start your company?
I've been looking for an opportunity to launch a software venture for the legal space for several years. When President Obama signed the America Invents Act, it opened a door for me to pursue launching our intellectual property software company.

Tell us something unique about you and your co-founder(s)?
I'm a sixth generation Hoosier. Having traveled globally and lived in places like New York City, I still love Indiana best. I appreciate the values and work ethic of the Midwest (and the great cost of living that makes launching a startup a better value here in Indiana than the coasts).

What problem does your product or service solve?
Companies aren’t tracking how their patents are utilized. Millions of dollars are spent to maintain patents without the data necessary to make informed decisions about the patent portfolio’s use or value.

As well, the traditional method of patent marking is cumbersome, expensive and archaic. Many companies are simply not marking their products effectively because of these barriers.

We provide corporations software-as-a-service to track and manage their patent-to-product data so they can understand their patent utilization. We also offer a service for them to implement a virtual patent marking strategy - a new patent marking method permitted by the America Invents Act.

What are your startup's three biggest challenges to growth?
First: Corporations don't seem to realize they don't really know how they're utilizing their patent portfolio, so a lot of money is being wasted and revenue being missed. That lack of awareness requires us to educate the marketplace a bit.

We're overcoming this with targeted marketing that highlights the importance of understand and tracking patent portfolio utilization.

Second: Virtual patent marking is very new, so there's still a lot of need for companies to better understand how it works, the benefits and the cost savings. 

We're working with bar associations to create content on this topic that can help raise the savvy of corporate and patent counsel around the country.

Third: We need more staff, but to do so we need to raise capital to maximize the opportunity. 

We've just kicked of a seed capital fundraising round to help accelerate our business and build on our early success.

How has Startup America helped you overcome these challenges to growth?
When we were selected by Startup America Partnership as a top startup in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl XLVI Contest, it really kicked up our timelines and focus.

Startup America CEO, Scott Case, Me, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and Develop Indy President Melissa Todd

We're much more focused on grabbing market share and maximize exposure. I'm hopeful as we progress through this initial seed capital round that Startup America Partnership mentors and programs will help guide us through the process.

What Startup America Member Benefits have you used?
We're really excited about the various resources that Startup America Partnership brings to us as a startup. We've participated in several Ask the VC conference calls, we've received a free .co URL, activated a $1,000 in free Google Adwords offer and tried to participate in as many of the online discussions and forums as possible.

What is the startup culture like in your City/State?
Indianapolis is thriving right now and there is a swell of activity around Indiana University, Purdue University, Notre Dame and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology that are building confidence in the Hoosier startup scene. We are starting to get over our inferiority complex of not being on the coast.

Recent IPO successes from Indianapolis-based Angie's List and Exact Target, along with several multi-hundred-million dollar acquisitions including Aprimo and others is building the confidence of our community.

There is an energy here - and I'm excited about how the State and local governments are starting to get more and more active in moving opportunities ahead

In the past 30 days we've been named a finalist for Techpoint's 2012 Mira Awards for Innovation of the Year and a few weeks ago Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard invited me to introduce him at the State of the City address as a representative of the local tech scene. These were exciting developments for our early-stage company.

We debuted our product at the American Bar Association's Intellectual Property Law Conference in Washington DC last month to great reviews and the momentum is building as we sign our first clients (all national brands) and build a strong pipeline of companies who want to better manage their patent portfolios.

Check out the pitch video that won Patent Status a free trip to Super Bowl XLVI!

Learn more about Patent Status:
Startup America member since October 2011
Region: Indiana
Web: www.patentstatus.com
Twitter: @patentstatus
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PatentStatus
http://www.s.co/content/super-bowl-contest-accelerates-patent-marking-software-startup

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