Technology Toolkit

Robert Abdo,
Lommen Abdo::
612.336.9334
ra***@****en.com
www.lommen.com

Bryan Ross,
Eide Bailly LLP:
952.918.3502
br***@********ly.com
www.eidebailly.com

Rachel Gold,
Ingenuity
Marketing Group:
651.690.3358
rachel@ingenuitymarketing
www.intertech.com

Christine
Hierlmaier Nelson,
Ingenuity
Marketing Group:
651.690.3358
christine@ingenuitymarketing
www.intertech.com

Tom Salonek,
Intertech:
651.454.0013
ts******@*******ch.com
www.intertech.com

Jim White,
Intertech:
651.454.0013
jw****@*******ch.com
www.intertech.com

Joseph Lee,
Merchant & Gould:
612.332.5300
jl**@***********ld.com
www.merchantgould.com

Do homework
before joining
‘green’ revolution

There are risks in implementing and publicizing green, or environmentally friendly, policies, according to Robert Abdo, Lommen Abdo, and Kim Carlson, EarthSmart LLC, both in Minneapolis. A company should do its homework before rushing on the growing technological and marketing trend. The risks can be managed in many ways including:

• Maintaining insurance and bonds to cover liabilities.

• Reviewing agreements regarding green facilities or practices, including service contracts, leases, management policies and procedures for compliance.

• Assessing public disclosures and advertisements for representations regarding green issues.

• Reviewing a business’s carbon footprint.

• Analyzing the terms used in corporate “green” policies to assure the policies are precise and not ambiguous, overbroad or vague.

• Reviewing and critically examining how the company interprets its green policy and monitors its implementation.

• Following the FTC’s green guides and similar standards for guidance about communicating claims about green products, services or facilities.

• Implementing compliance programs and protocols to ensure company facilities, operations and communications comply with the organization’s green policies.
• Keeping accurate records and establishing monitoring protocols to substantiate green claims, maintain the green efforts and ensure that “green” marketing claims are accurate.
 

What’s cloud computing?
Here’s a ‘cheat sheet’

Cloud computing provides information, software and/or computing power like a utility. Just like turning on the faucet or flipping a switch to get water or electricity, you turn it on when you need it and pay for what you use.

As pervasive as cloud computing is becoming, many people still are trying to get a handle on what it means, according to Tom Salonek, CEO and founder, and Jim White, director of training, with Intertech in Eagan. That’s understandable because cloud computing is evolving quickly and can refer to software, information technology infrastructure or even the very technology platform your IT function is based upon. Salonek and White offer a quick cloud computing “cheat sheet” to help clarify:

Software as a Service (SaaS) is about making packaged commercial software available over the Internet under a subscription or pay-for-usage service. As the owner of a small company you may be wondering why this would be a desirable way to purchase software for your operation. You certainly can purchase the latest Microsoft Office software at Best Buy more economically than over the Internet! But is it really the better deal?

With SaaS, you never have to worry about installation, maintenance or upgrades again. This can be a compelling value proposition for small and even very large organizations. Salesforce.com and Microsoft Exchange Online are two popular SaaS offerings today and many more will become available in the future.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is the traditional “data center” offered as a pay-for-capacity style of service, sometimes called a “private cloud.” IaaS offers servers, software, data storage and network equipment as virtualized computing power to host your applications and data. You provide the software/information and the IaaS provider gives you the environment to run it on so that you never touch the hardware. Oracle, Dell and IBM are becoming major players in the IaaS space.

Platform as a Service (PaaS) is IaaS on steroids and represents the long-term future of computing, according to Salonek and White. PaaS offers virtualized computing like IaaS, yet it also scales all parts of your hosted environment automatically as your system needs grow. PaaS provides a much more sophisticated runtime environment, complete with security, monitoring, testing, and other solutions that typically require extensive application developer time to solve.

PaaS is often described as “cloudware,” or an operating system for cloud computing, because it helps manage all the details of your application beyond the actual business code. Cloud computing in the form of PaaS leaves the details of hardware, operating system, even system architecture, and the other non-business related details of software in the hands of the experts in an economical pay-for-what-you-use form.

For individuals, Facebook, Flickr and LinkedIn are among the most commonly used cloudware. For business, Windows Azure from Microsoft is a serious platform that will impact nearly all software development in years to come, Salonek and White write. IBM and others also are making a big bet on PaaS cloud computing.

Cloud computing represents opportunity for companies to save time, money and precious employee and consultant resources, Salonek and White believe, adding that within ten years, all software engineers will be writing applications in the cloud. This development will improve the entrepreneurial environment as engineers are freed from mundane IT tasks to think more creatively about how to use software to solve business problems and create new opportunities, Salonek and White write.

Less may be more
for inventors
seeking patents

How can an inventor minimize the risks of a patent application that discloses too much? The inventor should ask questions about why the patent was drafted the way it was. Such a discussion can help focus the application and can lead to changes that will minimize the risk of too much disclosure, according to Joseph Lee, Merchant & Gould in Minneapolis.

Of course, there are limits to how little a patent application can and should say. And there can be good reasons why a patent drafter might say more than is required by statute. But the indicators below show that a patent has been drafted with an eye toward enforcement.

1. The patent is well-organized, clear, concise and focused on what the patentee considers to be new.
 
Patents that are ambiguous are not necessarily broader than patents with a more clearly defined scope (for example, “a hot summer day” is more ambiguous and may be narrower than “70 degrees to 125 degrees F”). Ambiguity/ uncertainty in the scope of coverage can make the patent difficult to enforce as there will be many reasonable competing views regarding the scope of the patent.

2. Arguments about patentability are omitted.

As a general rule, text and figures that go beyond the statutory requirements will do more harm than good. There is no legal requirement to include reasons why the invention is patentable in the patent itself.

Eventually, the patent applicant will have to convince an examiner that the invention is patentable. But the prior art the examiner cites may be very different from the prior art presumed in the application.

Arguments in favor of patentability are best deferred until prosecution of the patent, when the arguments against patentability have been clearly set forth by the examiner. Arguing patentability in the application, before seeing the examiner’s rejection, is like shooting a gun in the dark.
 
3. Everything that is new and valuable as shown in the figures and described in the text is covered by the claims.

As discussed above, variations on the invention shown and described in the specifications that are not claimed should raise a red flag, as they may wind up limiting claim scope.

There are exceptions to the general comments above. But savvy inventors  should ask more questions, not fewer, when presented with a long draft application, and challenge the drafter to include less rather than more.

Before marketing,
decide how to
know if it works

1. When measuring return on investment of an online marketing effort, remember to include the cost of all time spent on it by members of your firm.

2. This is often a hidden cost of online projects that seem free at first glance, write Rachel Gold and Christine Hierlmaier Nelson, Ingenuity Marketing Group in St. Paul.

3. While it might be hard to measure the “return” portion of ROI at first, be alert for prospects, referral sources and clients talking about the information they found on your site or blog.

4. If you have an interactive Web site, electronic newsletter, blog, LinkedIn group or other online effort, the comments and dialogue generated are an important measure that will increase the likelihood of referrals, sales and client loyalty.

Besides leads and hard sales data, there is a wealth of information you can measure to see how well your marketing efforts may play out. Here are some of the objectives you can size up:

• Demographics of target audiences for media, tradeshows, sponsorships.

• Increase in media coverage and/or number of brand messages communicated in media stories.

• Increase in Web visitors, Facebook fans or LinkedIn connections.

• Increase in e-mails and calls from the Web site.
    
• Raised awareness of your firm and its services, or of a practice area or specialty.
 
• Increased number of positive or branded messages about your firm, expressed online or in person.

•  Increase in referrals.

• Cross-selling efforts companywide or by niche.    
 
• Increase in customer retention, satisfaction and use of other services. 

To-do list

1. Since 1981, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has encouraged companies to develop new products and processes by offering a research and development (R&D) tax credit. The list of activities that qualify for this credit has grown since its  introduction, but many business owners are unaware the credit exists, let alone the benefits it may bring, according to Bryan Ross, with Eide Bailly in Bloomington.

2. Business owners who are aware of the credit are often under the mistaken impression that they must be involved in significant R&D or technological activities to qualify for benefits.  In fact, many companies meet the criteria for the R&D credit simply through their ongoing efforts to remain competitive.
  
3. Many of a company’s day-to-day business activities qualify for the R&D tax credit, including the following:

• Development of  new, improved or more reliable products, processes, formulas or techniques.

• Development of prototypes or models (including computer-generated models).

• Design of tools, jigs, molds and dies.

• Development or testing of new concepts or technologies.

• Development or improvement in production or manufacturing processes.

• Development, implementation or upgrading of software.

• Automation and/or streamlining of  internal processes.

4. Companies whose business activities meet these criteria are already experiencing improved operations and results due to their efforts.  Taking advantage of the R&D tax credit provides even greater benefit through tax savings.

five STEPS …
To getting started with
online marketing

1. When doing online marketing, resist the urge to employ a heavy-handed sales-only focus, or to send out boring, repetitive messages. Employees tweeting about what they ate for breakfast does nothing to enhance your online reputation, writes Tom Salonek of Intertech in Eagan.

2.  Once you’ve decided what to say and where to engage online, appoint your own online media maven, from one of your employees with a knack for communication and technology.

3.  This person should be an existing trusted employee, mostly likely someone in your marketing or communications area.  

4.  He or she should be a part-time taskmaster and content checker, and your most enthusiastic online proponent.

5. To keep the job from engulfing your leader, identify other employees who can help blog, tweet and post.