Tag Archives: Small Business Administration

The US Patent Process – a Huge Roadblock to American Entrepreneurship and Small Business

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CapsulePen (in which I am a major investor) is a brilliant breakthrough product in the pill case industry, but got hampered by the huge cost of the patent process.

CapsulePen (in which I am a major investor) is a brilliant breakthrough product in the pill case industry, but got hampered by the huge cost of the patent process.

I decided to designate January, 2016 as my “rant about something in my blog month,” but I will also offer solutions. I have a series of three such blogs planned for January, this one being my second. Do feel free to link back to my first blog in this series, “My Issues with Corporate Procurement and Supplier Diversity Professionals.”

In this blog I will complain about how the US Patent Process can easily kill and bankrupt a small business. Yes, there are many small business (like my consulting practice or opening a restaurant or boutique store) for which the patent process is irrelevant, but for start-up businesses around a totally new product or invention or process, the patent process can completely ruin them.

I do have some experience as a major investor in an innovative product in the pill case industry. I wrote about it a little in a blog back in September, 2012. By far the largest expense was going through the patent process. I am saddened that as an investor in an entrepreneurial pursuit, that a huge portion of my investment had to go to extremely highly paid patent attorneys making $750 per hour.

CapsulePen (link) received several rave reviews from the trade and business press; too bad the costly patent process hindered it from coming to market.

CapsulePen (link) received several rave reviews from the trade and business press; too bad the costly patent process hindered it from coming to market.

Any process that requires large amounts of high paid attorneys is broken! Yes, major corporations with multi-million or even billion dollar research and development budgets can easily foot $100,000 to push a patent though the process, but this could quickly bankrupt a start-up company. The US Small Business Administration provides support and tools for budding entrepreneurs, but in this area they fall far short. And I have heard members of President Obama’s administration speak eloquently about how small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, yet the US Administration burdens us with this arduous costly process.

So as large companies get bigger and lawyers get rich, small businesses die.

What do I recommend? The Small Business Administration should establish a simpler fast-path cost-effective process that does not require attorneys to complete. And perhaps the SBA can even provide some legal support at no charge to assist start up companies and small entrepreneurs. If small business are indeed the backbone of the US economic recovery, then remove this tremendous road block that only large companies now afford.

Landmark US Small Business Administration – National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Partnership Highlighted in Raleigh, NC Meeting!

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Please make sure to review and use the additional links provided below on the organizations highlighted in this blog.

From left to right: Patrick Rodriguez (meeting speaker), Ben Kittner (local entrepreneur), and blog author Stan Kimer gather before the March 11 RBPN meeting. More info on people in photo bottom of the blog

From left to right: Patrick Rodriguez (meeting speaker), Ben Kittner (local entrepreneur), and blog author Stan Kimer gather before the March 11 RBPN meeting. More info on people in photo bottom of the blog


As a charter member and current treasurer of the Raleigh Business and Professional Network (RBPN), one of the 38 US affiliate chapters of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber (NGLCC), I was energized by the exciting news shared at our monthly dinner meeting. Over 40 local LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) and ally business owners, professionals and retirees were on hand to network and hear our guest speaker, Raleigh’s Senior Area Manager of the North Carolina District Office of the US Small Business Administration (SBA) Patrick Rodriguez. He shared the recent announcement of the new SBA – LGBT Business Builder initiative as well as explaining the details of various SBA programs and resources available to small businesses.

The new SBA- NGLCC “LGBT Business Builder” will bring together expertise and resources from the staff at SBA regional and district offices, NGLCC’s 38 affiliate chapters in the US and other resource partners so that LGBT-owned business will have full access to the NGLCC’s and SBA’s full suite of offerings that help business succeed. Link to the complete February 5, 2015 announcement. This partnership highlights that as with all minority communities, the fight for civil rights and for market rights / economic empowerment are strongly linked.

After sharing this announcement at the March RBPN meeting, Patrick provided the audience with a great tutorial of many services available from the SBA to help small business launch and then successfully grow and sustain themselves. The offerings include:
• Counseling. Small business owners are not out there by ourselves needing to figure out everything needed to start and run a business from scratch. Classes and one-on-one counseling help are available through the Women’s Business Centers (4 in NC), SCORE Chapters (10 in NC), and the Small Business Technical Development Centers (15 in NC)
• Capital. Loans of all sizes are made much more accessible and come with better terms through SBA guarantees. Loans are available for start up, company real estate and sustaining a business
• Contracting. Assistance in becoming an actual contractor or subcontractor for the many areas of the US Federal Government, which has multi-billions of dollars in procurement spending.

This new LGBT Business Builder partnership is still in its very early stages with many of the execution details to be launched, including here in North Carolina. I am looking forward with great anticipation as more LGBT-owned business start and grow in Raleigh and across the rest of NC and beyond!

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Blog author Stan C. Kimer is the founder and owner of Total Engagement Consulting by Kimer, the first certified LGBT-Business Enterprise in Raleigh, NC.

The Raleigh Business and Professional Network (RBPN) is one of the 38 NGLCC local affiliates in the US. Corporate sponsorships are now available!

RBPN board member Ben Kittner, included in the blog photo above, is founder and president of College Performance Coaching, a new entrepreneurial venture.

The US Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the US Federal Government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns. Additional link to North Carolina specific site.

The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce is the business voice of the LGBT community and is the largest global not-for-profit advocacy organization specifically dedicated to expanding economic opportunities and advancements for LGBT people.