Democratizing Intellectual Property

Our mission is to democratize intellectual property rights for marginalized and underrepresented entrepreneurs by making it easier, and less costly, to protect and monetize their innovation.

Do you know of anyone that either did, or did not, benefit from something that they created? I have stories of loss and of gain to share. The opportunity lost was over $1MM. The gain value was about $100MM in operating profit. Each informs T-I-L®’s Mission.

About loss, at a family funeral my sister told me of an uncle that is believed to have written a hit song. It should have been worth an estimated $1MM to him financially. He was a singer, attended high school, and was the youngest of thirteen children born to black farmers in Chesterfield, South Carolina. To our knowledge he received $0 for the creative expression.

In contrast, the gain involves working for a then $10B revenue NASDAQ stock traded company based in the District of Columbia, where an executive asked for a system to increase sales productivity in a $100B market the company was entering. I created a data driven sales targeting algorithm valued at $500 MM in revenue and $100 MM in operating profit. As an employee the financial benefits of my intellectual property invention went to the company’s shareholders.

These stories highlight the fundamental challenge of structural barriers1 oppress the “have nots”, people like my uncle, face if there is an opportunity to use their creativity, compared to the “haves” like the company. A solution for those being blocked by structural barriers: Awareness - to see and assess the possibilities; Access - to options that “meet them where they are”; Affordability - of resources to power their work; and Availability – of a potential return on their investment, in their terms.

With these and other factors in mind T-I-L® designed a solution to address the requirements, tested it, and is delivering it to those that were underserved. The result is the IPRights4All© Solution – is an integrated package of law + consulting + products, designed to support marginalized and underrepresented entrepreneurs in creating, protecting, and monetizing their innovation.