The Importance of Doing Your Due Diligence Before Getting IP Protection

Mario Nawfal is the Founder of the Athena Group of Companies, a synergistic ecosystem that operates a variety of businesses including e-commerce, events, and even a growth hacking agency, in more than 40 countries. He started his first business selling blenders door-to-door with $300 in the bank. In that first year, he brought his blender business to $1 million—and $10 million in the second. 

Mario has since launched multiple ventures into the millions, including IBI Ventures, a venture fund that provides value-added strategic capital to capable teams, businesses, and technologies. Mario is also an international speaker.

In this episode…

As much as getting intellectual property (IP) protection is important, do you know what's equally just as important? Doing your due diligence—well before it's time to invest. This is because you need to know if there's an existing patent registered for your idea already, to avoid getting into any legal trouble. It also helps ensure that the product is worthy of being launched to get proof of concept.

Mario Nawfal has been there before. After infringing on another company's patent, he found himself in a lawsuit. Although his manufacturer, a Chinese company, had given them an indemnity agreement, this was of no use to his business—and they ended up getting sued and suffering 7 figure losses.

In this week's episode of the Innovations and Breakthroughs Podcast, Rich Goldstein is joined by Mario Nawfal, the Founder of the Athena Group of Companies, to discuss the importance of doing due diligence before getting IP protection. Mario shares his experience doing door-to-door sales, his strategy for building a growth hacking agency, and his words of wisdom for inventors and entrepreneurs trying to bring their products to market.