Disclaimer: I was asked to write this by a member of the Loci Team. However, all views and opinions expressed here are my own and are not necessarily to the benefit of the Loci Project. This article does not constitute investment or financial advice, and should not be considered as such. Please undertake your own research and come to your own conclusions before investing in anything. As always, never invest more than you can afford to lose.
Note: All text in quotation marks come from the Loci Whitepaper, Version 2
Other Note: This post is also rather lengthy, but that's necessary for those of use that haven't had a peak inside the world of patents
First thing to know about this project is that it is not a new idea. It is an established startup with a working product (InnVenn), a growing user base (currently 500+) and an expansive Intellectual Property (IP: the basis of a patent) portfolio. Here’s the beginning:
InnVenn was first conceptualised in 2008 by company CEO, John Wise, who was highly frustrated by the process of trying to obtain a patent when he was an engineer. Convinced that the process could be significantly improved he set himself upon doing just that. He and his father theorised a method of doing so in 2008 -a “System and Method for Fuzzy Concept Mapping, Voting Ontology Crowd Sourcing, and Technology Prediction”- and had the patent filed for the process in 2012. In February of 2017 the product (InnVenn) was launched and the idea, born nine years before, became a reality.
What is it Going to Improve?
Simply put: the invention process. It will drastically decrease the time taken and money spent on getting and idea protected, while offering a quicker and safer alternative to making money from it, At the same time, levelling the playing field so individuals and small groups of people can compete with corporations and big money.
Worldwide, the current system used for authentication of a claim to an idea is First-Inventor-To-File (FITF). This means that the first person to file get the priority date on a patent, they then have an exclusive 12 month window to file the patent or else it becomes public domain. This claim can be as little as a sketch with a few scribbled notes.
The patent process is a painstaking, time and money consuming legal process which involves the submission of an idea to the Patent Office in order for them to check its originality against current databases. However, someone could have filed one the day before and you wouldn’t know for an average of 18 months! “A typical non-provisional application will incur a total cost of $10,000 to $30,000” U.S. Dollars and more technical inventions can easily reach beyond $100,000. These costs are all accrued before you’ve even been ensured that your idea is original and not already patented!
This whole process favours big companies who have the funds to pay the high legal fees needed to get patents submitted and processed faster. As stated at the beginning, Loci plans to level the playing field and democratise the patent process. They will make this whole process significantly faster, cheaper and more effective than current methods. Allowing individuals and small groups of people to stake claims to an idea quickly, efficiently and, most importantly, in a much more cost-effective manner. Much closer to the speed at which larger companies and corporations do in the current climate, and in an open and transparent matter so there is no dispute over the timing of ideas.
How is it Going to Reenvision the Industry?
Using the before mentioned patented method, which is built into InnVenn:
InnVenn is an intelligent search engine which searches through patent databases and brings you the results in a Venn diagram (See below if you’ve also forgotten what that is). It allows you to use up to four search terms to see if your idea has already been patented. It allows you to compound searches and adjust individual searches for more specificity and to look outside of your main search term to see if your idea has been used in other spheres. It will store searches made (with full confidentiality) and uses these to learn for the future in order to identify “whitespace” between patents, which has the potential to be filled.
The way the results are displayed is unique to InnVenn in this industry. Current methods require a lot of manual combing through each individual result, which takes far longer and is much more costly, as often you must also pay a professional to do this for you before your idea is accredited. InnVenn’s method is user-friendly and makes spotting that hole for your invention much, much easier.
This service is free to use by anyone looking to test the software and run a patent test search; try it here. The full version costs $249 per month, or 100 LOCIcoins, and it will be used throughout the Intellectual Property industry. However, The main aim of this product is to bring this service to the masses. To allow anyone with a good idea to see where it fits into the Intellectual Property landscape and if there’s space they will have the accessibility to make a claim to that idea.
“Loci has been informed that the database itself is view by the United States Patent and Trademark Office as a public database of patents, products, publications, and new ideas, and thus a legitimate location for public disclosure”. It is best to note here that InnVenn cannot currently be deemed an official registry, but Loci’s intent is to, over time, work with patent offices to empower them to streamline their processes; as well as empowering inventors. This was the plan from the beginning, a full industry reshuffle.
Tokens = Blockchain
The database is going to be built on top of the ethereum blockchain to provide immutable, timestamped, evidence that you were the first one to register your idea and disclose it to the public. When using the InnVenn platform, once you have found that your invention fills a un-patented niche you can stake a claim (costing 1 LOCIcoin) and that then starts the timer on a 12 month grace period for filing for a patent. In this time you can define your invention and upload documentation and select saved search results to prove that your idea fills in a blank in the patent space and that the Intellectual Property is yours.
Why Have They Produced a Token?
Loci have produced LOCIcoin to perpetuate the ecosystem that exists inside their product, to fuel innovation and, of course, to raise capital. To facilitate the first two goals, the Loci Foundation, is going to be created before the end of 2017 whose primary function will be to ensure that the flow of LOCIcoins remain somewhat constant, and thus helps to sustain the ecosystem. This is ensured by a couple of distribution factors built into smart and legal contracts for the foundation, which focus on forwarding new innovators and encouraging those who have already staked a claim to some Intellectual Property.
The Team
Having already developed a product and got it onto the marketplace the company already employs over 20 people. Here is a short breakdown of the three lead players on the project.
CEO, John Wise, is the heart and soul of this project and comes from the world of top level motor racing. He is the Patent Industry Subject Matter Expert (SME) and originally conceptualised the concept of InnVenn back in 2008. He has worked with many patent applications and has seen first hand how difficult the patent process is. Through the years it seems he has become well connected with those in the industry. Point to note here also: John is receiving 2.5million of the created LOCIcoin. This will be restricted to a sale cap of 500,000 a year and he will be obligated by fiduciary responsibility, through smart and legal contract, to stabilise the market on the currency side if the need arises. This will be if a majority of tokens are held up in asset transactions and there is a gridlock in the system. Good to see a committed CEO.
Director of Technology, Eric Ross, is an accomplished software engineer and consultant who has work successfully with many high profile clients. He has been managing teams of technical people for a while, and his profiles state that “he cannot help but continue to code”.
Director of Operations, Brian Hwang, has a wide range of experience in the world of business development and operations, from working with big companies like GE Capital and Ernest & Young. He has also owned an operated small businesses and been an advisor for startups.
The company advisors are informed of government regulatory procedures and changes to said procedures that would affect this company and are connected to the entrepreneurial and startup sector; which will be a big end user of this product.
Looking to The Future
Their roadmap details the stages of growth for InnVenn. Having already produced a viable and working product there are not many big and exciting releases coming up like you would usually find inside an ICO. Instead there are functional improvements and upgrades lined up to the frontend and backend of the system. The blockchain will be implemented in Phase 3, allowing immutable proof that you came up with the idea first and have the first claim to the Intellectual Property. A step which really moves them on down the road to becoming the “gold standard platform that will empower inventors”. The one thing missing from this roadmap is a timeline of events and by when they expect each of these phases to be completed.
This is their technical vision for the future and, although they don’t have a roadmap or predictions for it, the whitepaper does talk of a vision for the future. Over time as the number of platform users grow the machine learning and predictive analytics ability of InnVenn will increase. “Loci will predict the interactions between every idea that exists or could exist” and it assists inventors in finding them. Loci will act as a matchmaker between inventors, companies and investors, allowing you as a person with a unique idea, to be able to come into contact with those willing to back your idea.
Authors Conclusion
If you made it here through all that then congratulations! Phew… It was a long one ‘eh, but I believe it was needed in order to fully understand the concept they’re proposing. If you just skipped to here, well there’s no love lost.
I really like this idea. Yes, probably like you, I didn’t know there was a problem in this industry before I started this, but I can clearly see the problem for the little man and how Loci have a clear idea and design to put them on level playing field. One note I didn’t make in the article is that in 2015 no less than 12.9 million patent applications were filled worldwide. That’s a tremendous market!
The Really Good:
- Already have a working product
- They show a clear understanding of, and experience in, the industry
- They have a plan and a vision for the future of the product
- Have even been noticed by the U.S. Patent Office
- They quote sources for all information they present. For example, the number of patent application noted above has a source in the whitepaper
- Encapsulates the ideals of blockchain technology by simplifying a process, increasing it’s transparency and more than all of that, bringing the small man up to be on a level playing field with big money and corporations.
- They’ve done they’re due diligence for the token sale, stating parties that aren’t allowed and making sure to only allow, confirmed accredited US investors.
The Not so Good:
- There are no dates on the roadmap for updates to the product, just version numbers
- Lack of predictions for future user growth of the product
- To use the system and obtain LOCIcoins one needs a basic understanding of crypto, token wallets
I would encourage you to read their detailed whitepaper as not all fact presented in the whitepaper are included here. I also highly recommend visiting their website where you can test InnVenn, search for some patents yourself and see how the system works. After that try doing the same search on the web (I recommend patents.google.com) and see the comparison for yourself.