J.D. and Matt kicked off our podcast with a discussion of summer time products and innovation. We did a deep dive into the popular smokeless fire pit brand, Solo Stove. This was popularized 5-10 years ago as a camping/portable stove, and then began selling to the mass market for backyard fire pits, but without the smoke using an air-flow to suck the smoke out from the bottom of the pit, so it doesn't go up the middle.  J.D. showed off the design patent that SoloStove touts on their website and marketing. Noting their circular design for venting at the bottom.

A competitor popped up called Hotshot, that they used DIAMOND shapes instead of CIRCULAR shapes...but otherwise an identical looking smokeless firepit. J.D. and Matt made the determination that the Hot shot team made the different shape to avoid infringing the design of the solo stove. JD went on to say that you don't always need a patent to go to market but you must be aware of patents out there so you can be smart about your design. 

Matt and JD then took a Bold Bite of a pizza oven pitch to Shark Tank and critiqued his presentation as well as pending patent. The inventor was overly focused on the one design, and JD pointed out that the company is fortunate enough to have their patent still pending, as they need to do more consumer market testing before the first patent is issued. So, they still have time to develop their portfolio around any other innovations the market demands.

JD and Matt answered some live and pre-loaded questions from AVVO during the show as well. 

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