"Do Not Let Anyone Diminish Your Ideas" / by Ashanti Titus

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Black women are the epitome of ingenuity. I believe this because so many of us had to constantly come up with solutions with very little resources. On February 4, 2021, I had the opportunity to sit down with Porsha Bursey. Porsha is a Dallas native who is also an inventor. She is also the founder and CEO of Porshair.


In this interview, we talk about what it means and what it takes to protect your intellectual property. So many of us come up with some amazing ideas daily. But what do we do with these ideas? After sitting down and speaking with Porsha the first thing is to keep the intricacies of your idea to yourself. The next thing that you want to do is to make sure that you have your coins lined up and ready to go. To obtain a US Patent you are going to need money and time. According to Porsha the price to obtain a patent is around $10,000 to $20,000. Also, it takes an average time of 2 years. If you do not have that much money there is a resource that you can connect with that could be of help to you the website is www.UPSTO.gov 


Your application for a US Patent can be denied. When this happens this means that you will have to pay additional lawyer fees. This can be anywhere from $1,500 to $2,500!!! I encourage you to not be discouraged. This is because anything is possible. Also, when you really want something to happen you have what it takes to make it happen. I believe that the first step to better prepare yourself is to become aware of what you are up against. Once you know that then you can get your war chest prepared!!


Porsha also talked about how she was invited to be featured on a network. The problem was that the date that she was supposed to go on the air was before her patent was solidified. 


Porsha also informed us how important that it is to not be so eager to go through every door that is presented to you. Make sure that you listen to your gut and make sure that you thoroughly read any and all paperwork that is presented to you. 


You can find Porsha on Instagram at @iamporshatena (https://www.instagram.com/iamporshatenea)


To purchase the shirt that I have on in the video click here.