Patent attorney and former chemist Josh Goldberg joins me to unpack how intellectual property strategy determines whether innovation gets funded—or quietly dies.

Most startup conversations focus on product, growth, and pitch decks. This episode focuses on what founders often ignore until it’s too late: protection. Josh shares why he left drug formulation chemistry to go to law school, and how he now helps innovators—particularly in green tech and scientific industries—turn inventions into defensible assets.

We walk through the uncomfortable reality that patents don’t let you do anything. They let you stop others. That negative right, however, is often the very thing investors care about most.

From first-to-file rules and accidental public disclosures to the difference between patents, trademarks, and copyrights, this episode breaks down how smart founders think about timing, leverage, and risk before litigation ever enters the picture.

This isn’t a conversation about legal theory.It’s about strategic sequencing.

Because innovation without protection doesn’t attract capital. It attracts competition.

TL;DR

* In green tech and scientific startups, patents often are the product

* Investors evaluate risk before they evaluate brilliance

* Publishing before filing can permanently destroy international patent rights

* The U.S. has a one-year grace period; most other countries do not

* Patents protect inventions; trademarks protect brands; copyrights protect creative works

* Litigation is expensive—early strategy prevents most of it

* Founders need business planning as much as scientific expertise

* IP strategy should be integrated into the business plan from day one

Memorable Lines

* “Having a patent doesn’t let you do something—it lets you stop someone else.”

* “It’s a race to the patent office.”

* “If you don’t know where you’re going, wherever you wind up is going to be fine.”

* “Innovation without protection makes funding harder, not easier.”

* “The earlier I get involved, the fewer mistakes we have to untangle.”

Guest

Josh Goldberg — Patent attorney and former chemistIntellectual property strategist focused on green technology, scientific innovation, and helping startups build defensible patent portfolios before going to market.

📍 Brooklyn, New York🔗 Email: jgoldberg@nathlaw.com

Why This Matters

The American economy rewards innovation—but only when it’s defensible.

Founders often move fast, publish early, and chase funding without realizing they may be donating their invention to the public domain in the process.

This episode reframes intellectual property not as legal overhead, but as strategic leverage. For technical founders, scientists, and operators building in complex industries, protection isn’t paperwork—it’s positioning.

Capital flows toward lower risk.

And risk is shaped long before anyone files a lawsuit.