My Dad & Brother Copied My Business Plan Word-For-Word — Jury Saw It Side-By-Side, Guilty

My father and brother stole my startup name. Copied my business plan word-for-word. Raised $150,000 from investors. I sued them. Won. Built a $50 million company while they went bankrupt.

February 2023. Family dinner. I told my parents about my startup idea: Pierce Analytics. A financial analytics app for small businesses. I'd been building it for six months.

Dad: "You should include Kevin. Make it a family business."

"No. This is my project."

"That's selfish. Kevin needs this opportunity more than you need control."

I filed my trademark. Started building my prototype.

August 2023. USPTO rejected my trademark: "Name already registered."

I checked. Pierce Analytics LLC. Owners: Robert Pierce and Kevin Pierce.

My father and brother had registered my exact business name. Three months after I told them about it.

Then I found out they'd raised $150,000 from investors. Using my business plan. Word for word. Market research. Target customers. Revenue model. Product features. Everything.

I sued. Federal court. Intellectual property theft.

Trial lasted two weeks. Jury saw the evidence. My original trademark filing: February 2023. Theirs: May 2023. My business plan. Their investor pitch deck. Side by side. Identical.

Verdict: Guilty on all counts.

Court ordered them to pay $247,000. Transfer the trademark to me. Close their business.

Their version of Pierce Analytics failed in eight months. Burned through $150K. Product didn't work. Customers hated it.

I rebranded. Built Atlas Analytics. Today: 800 customers, $480K annual revenue, $50M acquisition offer.

Dad called last month: "I'm proud of you. Congratulations on the $50M company."

Then: "Can you lend me $10,000? I'm struggling."

"You owe me $247,000. Pay that first."

"I'm your father—"

"You're the man who stole my startup. That's who you are."

He stole the plan. But he couldn't steal the execution. That's the difference.

They raised $150K, failed in 8 months.

I raised $2.25M, built a $50M company in 4 years.

You can steal someone's words. But you can't steal their understanding.

💬 How do you protect your intellectual property when the threat comes from inside your family? How do you document your work when the people who steal it are the ones you trusted most?

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