TELL US WHAT YOU DO
I was recently at a meeting that discussed presenters for an upcoming VC conference. Each company's name was given with a short statement about what they do. The companies had put some effort into creating introduction that would make the companies' products and service sound impressive. Unfortunately, at the end of the presentation, I was at a complete loss for what most of the companies actually do. I probably have a need for the product or service of at least one of these companies. They will not get my business, however, because I still do not know that they have the solution.
We are all guilty of the same thing at times. When people ask what I do I often respond that I am an IP attorney. Of course everyone knows what an IP attorney does, right? IP is attorney slang for intellectual property while PI is slang for personal injury attorneys- please don't confuse the two. Even if I say intellectual property, most real people (Dilbert claims that law students are 1/4 of a person and that drops to zero after they pass the bar) and even some attorneys are not sure exactly what that means. Intellectual property covers patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. When introducing myself, I should indicate that I handle patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret matters. If I don't, I am risking losing a potential client because they are not familiar with industry slang. Occasionally I will introduce myself as an IP attorney only to have the person tell me they were looking for a patent attorney or a trademark attorney. I had already lost the chance for the introduction to convince the potential client that I am the right attorney for the job.
We are all guilty of the same thing at times. When people ask what I do I often respond that I am an IP attorney. Of course everyone knows what an IP attorney does, right? IP is attorney slang for intellectual property while PI is slang for personal injury attorneys- please don't confuse the two. Even if I say intellectual property, most real people (Dilbert claims that law students are 1/4 of a person and that drops to zero after they pass the bar) and even some attorneys are not sure exactly what that means. Intellectual property covers patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. When introducing myself, I should indicate that I handle patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret matters. If I don't, I am risking losing a potential client because they are not familiar with industry slang. Occasionally I will introduce myself as an IP attorney only to have the person tell me they were looking for a patent attorney or a trademark attorney. I had already lost the chance for the introduction to convince the potential client that I am the right attorney for the job.
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