[Video: Spencer Irvine talks about startups and patents.]

Generally speaking, patentable inventions must be new, non-obvious, and useful or industrially applicable. Startups often lack the money and experience needed to develop and file patents, so rely on help from their friends, mentors, and business network. Spencer covered several points in our interview, at times noted below.

Q: How did you start AirVentions and what technical problems are you solving? (0:45)

• Avoidance of airplane supply equipment collisions
• Based on personal experience working on the ground

Q: How did you develop and file your first patent? (2:15)

• USPTO.gov (United States Patent and Trademark Office)
• PatentStorm.com (US patent search engine)

Q: What work followed the first patent? (6:00)

• Spencer’s approved patent preceded company itself
• Filed second patent to cover more functionality

Q: What would you do differently when filing patents? (7:15)

• Seek out info on the filing process
• Understand similar patents in your industry
• Research the full range of costs for filing in the USA and abroad

George and Ben Hron deep in discussion

Tim Rowe, Nancy Saucier and Michael Davies

German delegation in the Cafe (good thing we had Spaten Oktoberfest on draft!)

Conversation circles

As I write this, Venture Cafe is wrapping up Bain Capital Ventures office hours for this week.  (Every week 3-5pm on Fridays – sign up required on Bain Capital Ventures Innovation Center‘s site…)

Yesterday, Thursday November 4, we started the winter season off with a bang. While the beer situation was a little dire, with us only pouring Spaten Oktoberfest, the world’s first Oktoberfest beer, we were lucky to have a German delegation that was touring CIC join us and aid the bartenders in the correct pronunciation, SCHPA-ten, early in the afternoon.

First thing in the day, NEVCA‘s VC Unplugged had six entrepreneurs join the VC of the week, Matt Fates from Ascent Venture Partners, followed by one-on-ones. (Look for Matt to return to the cafe with another hat on in December, as part of the Museum of Science Innovators event.)

Later, Boston World Partnerships’ Connectors’ Corner, MIT $100K Web/IT and Energy track participants and MIT Entrepreneurship Review all had a strong presence in the cafe.

We also had our new Venture Cafe “Credo” posted for participants. Take a look and let us know what you think!

Get your Schwag ready!

-Carrie

After that aside, now on to the recap and weekly announcements you’ve all been waiting for!

This past week was a BIG week for the cafe, on many dimensions – in terms of the move we made to the 4th floor, the number of people through the door and the amount of beer consumed (assisted by the MassChallenge pitch night on Tuesday).

If you didn’t make it last week, here’s a photo of the new space on the 4th floor, which, while not fully completed, was a great venue for the larger crowd.

First, we were pleased to expand our presence in the life sciences sphere by holding a special version of the NEVCA Office Hours, held jointly with the Mass Life Sciences Council, including an evening networking reception. For all of you entrepreneurs who attend the Office Hours, the VC Unplugged portion is now held in the Mandalay conference room on the 4th floor, which can be reached by passing through the cafe. As a reminder, October VC signups are open for entrepreneurs and can be accessed here.

Second, I want to recognize The Quest for Innovation, an annual SCVNGR scavenger hunt or ‘trek’ highlighting innovation sites. This year Kendall Square was the center of the trek and Venture Cafe was one of the stops! We recognized quite a few faces, but had some new visitors too, bringing the overall attendance to around 150 people this week. The new space allowed for us to not be stepping on each others’ toes (though we are still working out the traffic flow and bar location) and for lots of new seating options.

While the upcoming Thursday, September 30, is a quiet one in terms of events, please do come by to check out the new space, have some great conversations and sample our beer selection (now boasting a lager – Miller High Life, a seasonal Oktoberfest, Allagash White and Jack D’or from the ever-popular Cambridge brewery Pretty Things)!

Looking forward on the calendar, we are gearing up for a big week next week when FutureM and PJA radio broadcasting live from the cafe!

We have one addition to the lineup for this week: Rich Miner and Luis Garcia of Google Ventures! Now that their tentative spot has been confirmed, you can plan on seeing them this Thursday from 3-6pm, along with Alex Taussig of Highland. Appointments will be first come, first served so come early to ensure that you get a spot.  

As Google’s primary investment arm,  Google Ventures seeks to invest in great ideas proposed by forward-thinking entrepreneurs. The fund doesn’t limit its investment to any particular area, and its portfolio currently contains companies in various stages of development and with very diverse focuses.

Before becoming an Associate at Google Ventures, Luis Garcia, (@ldgarc) worked in international product management for Youtube. While pursuing an engineering degree at Stanford University, Luis was a finalist at the Entrepreneur’s Challenge business plan competition. Who better to discuss your start-up with than someone who’s been intimate with both the entrepreneurial end of business, as well as the VC side? To learn more, see Luis’ bio, courtesy of Google Ventures.

Rich Miner (@richminer), co-founder of Android, has had extensive experience in founding and heading companies that focus on mobile/wireless technology and consumer products. Before becoming a partner at Google Ventures and Android, Rich  worked as Vice President at Orange Ventures, dealing in research and development. He holds a PhD in Computer Science and clearly holds extensive knowledge about building strong companies. Here’s his bio, also courtesy of Google Ventures.

Secondly, if you would like to schedule an appointment with Alex Taussig, please email Alison Howard at ahoward@hcp.com or schedule your appointment through Highland’s Facebook page. Appointments made with Alison or via Facebook will be the only ones on the schedule so if you have made an appointment with Brian Tino, plesae send another email to Alison to reschedule and confirm your spot.

Looking  forward to seeing you Thursday!

First, we are hosting Boston World Partnerships’ Strategy Sessions on Wednesday June 9 from 5-8pm. Note that while the sessions themselves are closed door, the entrepreneurs and Connectors will be in the cafe before and after the sessions, as well as during a break in the middle, and this is also the opportunity for those of you who are working during our Thursday hours to come and check out the cafe.

On Thursday we welcome back NEVCA for Open Office Hours with Justin Perrault of Commonwealth and Michael Brown of Battery Ventures. All the One-on-One slots are taken, but the new ‘VC Unplugged’ and open cafe time are scheduled from 3-4:30pm if you’d like to connect.

Also on Thursday, serial entrepreneur, angel investor and mentor behind the recently announced ‘Anything Goes Accelerator Labs’ in CIC, Bill Warner, will be presenting his inspiring seminar, “How to Build Your Startup from Your Heart”. Space is limited, so please only sign-up if you can attend. Walk-in will be first-come, first-serve, so please do sign up here. The session will run from 3-5pm, leaving some time to discuss take-aways afterwards in the Cafe.

As always the cafe is open til 6pm and we hope to see you this week!

_______________

From Nancy:

With the positive feedback of and growing participation in NEVCA Open Office Hours, we’ve added a few more dates before the August vacation season and will continue through the fall every other week at the Venture Café.

But, we’re changing a few things to appeal to a broader entrepreneur audience. First, we’ll only be releasing the names of the VCs holding office hours a couple weeks in advance, so check back at the registration page frequently to see who has been added. Second, we’ll now start each session with an open discussion for everyone in the café and the two VCs ‘on-call’—a venture industry unplugged if you will. This is a great opportunity to meet not only the VCs, but your fellow entrepreneurs and get general questions about venture financing answered (and you know you’re not the only one with the same question—you’re just the person bold enough to ask).

After some general networking, the VCs will then each hold three one-on-one meetings to round out the afternoon.

You can choose to participate in all or just some of the afternoon activities (although if you’d like a one-on-one, we’d also like you to attend the general discussion from 3-4)

A couple of asks, please don’t hog one-on-one slots and when you request a slot, please be kind enough to submit a brief summary of your business. This simply helps the VCs know generally about your business so they can be more helpful when you meet.

So without further delay, registration can be found here. Registration for the open session is not required, but I would like to know you’re coming.

So the next office hours will be held on June 10th and June 24th from 3-6 PM.

On June 10th, Justin Perreault of Commonwealth Capital Ventures and Michael Brown from Battery Ventures will host office hours.

Justin has more than 15 years of venture capital and operating experience in information technology industries. He has particular interest in and experience with enterprise application, infrastructure software, and software as a service (SaaS) business models. More information about Justin and Commonwealth is available here.

Michael has made, or managed, multiple investments in the areas of financial services, enterprise software and technology-enabled business services. Michael currently serves on the board of ExactTarget, Fingerhut Direct Marketing, J. Hilburn, Panjiva, and TradeKing. In addition, he has been actively involved with Battery’s investments in ChemConnect (acquired by InterContinental Exchange), The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE) (acquired by Euronext), MRU Holdings, and OutlookSoft Corporation (acquired by SAP). There’s more information here.

On June 24th, Stephen McCormack Commonwealth Capital Ventures and Chris Sheehan of CommonAngels will be your hosts.

Steve is a co-founder of Commonwealth and has more than 20 years of venture capital and private equity experience. His investment activity has primarily been in early stage technology companies with an emphasis on communications/mobile and software platforms and tools. More information about Stephen and Commonwealth is available here.

Chris is a managing director of CommonAngels, joining the group in 2005, and is currently either a board member or observer at Carbonite, Outside the Classroom, Most Effective Media, Xconomy and GateRocket. Within CommonAngels, Chris manages deal flow, due diligence and the investment process. He also guides the group’s strategic direction and works closely with portfolio companies. He is also a managing director of the group’s two $10M venture funds. Here’s more information.

Your feedback on the structure and jeers always appreciated and I look forward to seeing you at the café.

– Nancy Saucier, Executive Director, NEVCA

We’re excited to have a new forum to publish information (in more than 140-character snippets) about the happenings in the Cafe, receive your feedback and suggestions, and provide updates on the progress of the street-level cafe. We are considering additional content, like profiles of cafe regulars, video interviews with VCs and serial entrepreneurs, and posts on the technology development for the cafe.

Carrie Stalder

Manager, Venture Cafe

Here are links from past posts about Venture Cafe from the CIC blog:

30-June-2009: A new initiative in Kendall Square: the Venture Cafe

28-Feb-2010: The Venture Cafe Alpha arrives, and brings VC Office Hours

21-Mar-2010: New “Salon-Style” Venture Capital Office Hours at the Venture Cafe @ CIC

11-Apr-2010:  Build Your Startup From the Heart

11-Apr-2010:  Upcoming Venture Cafe VC Office Hours

18-Apr-2010: This Week at The Venture Cafe @ CIC

25-Apr-2010: This Week at The Venture Cafe @ CIC: April 26 – May 2

25-Apr-2010: Come to the CIC Open House on Thursday for Technology Night in Kendall Square