We take a hands-on personalized approach throughout the patenting process and generate a highly targeted strategy for each client and each individual application. From our over 20 years of dedicated IP practice, we have worked with companies throughout all stages of the business lifecycle and thoroughly understand that each client, whether having just incorporated or whether having billions in revenue, have a myriad of often conflicting demands and that their IP strategy must account for the client’s unique situation. Accordingly, we take the time to learn about the client’s prior history, current status and future strategies as well as relevant industry trends and pressures to ensure that their patent applications are appropriately tailored to their needs and goals.
Throughout our work we draw not only upon our many years of legal practice but also upon our many years of relevant industry experience. Prior to turning to the law, various members of our team had established careers in science, engineering, and IT, handling projects in the areas of human medical therapies, development of therapeutics, computer implemented inventions, and robotics. We are able to use this knowledge not only to write better grounded applications that are less likely to be contested but also to better communicate with the scientists, researchers, engineers, software developers and other technicians who derived the IP to better identify areas where the claims can be expanded and areas of potential concern.
Once a patent application is filed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and assigned to a patent Examiner, we use information available for that Examiner to further refine the strategy. Currently there are over 8,000 patent Examiners at the United States patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), each of which has a different level of experience and a different approach to examination of applications. By further adapting to the assigned examiner, as opposed to taking a one size fits all approach, we are able to move the application forward efficiently, saving the client money and obtaining a patent a rapidly as possible. Our overall rate of initial success is more than 80% and we average 1.6 Office Actions before a patent is granted. Unlike many large law firms, we strenuously strive to avoid extensions and ensure we maintain close contact with our clients so that they are well aware of and have time to adequately prepare for any upcoming deadlines.
We also explore the potential for international patent protection so that the client has sufficient time to review potential markets in other countries before making final decisions. We have an extensive international network of attorneys and law firms whom we have worked with for years and who provide cost-effective services.
We do not have any fixed fees because we do not feel that fixed fees are fair to all clients. That is, because a fixed fee must be an “average” of the cost, that means that some clients are essentially subsidizing others. Consequently, we operate only on an hourly billing basis so that each client is billed only for their work.
We also encourage our clients to conduct a yearly portfolio review. This not only helps to identify and prioritize protection for new discoveries and innovations, but also assists in generating a realistic budget for patent related matters.
