I often hear inventors tell me that finding a patent attorney is so difficult. Most inventors will hop on the Internet, try to learn about getting a patent in an hour or two, and end up more confused than when they started their search.
It’s understandable. Given that one patent alone can often take a number of years to work its way through the patent process, from submission to grant, obtaining a patent can be challenging even for a patent attorney with a moderate amount of experience, let alone an inventor with little to no experience.
Being someone who has prepared hundreds of patent applications, I have compiled a list of factors that I think would be helpful to inventors trying to find a patent attorney:
Patents are not Apples
A common misconception is that just like the same quality apple can be bought at different grocery stores, the same quality patent can be obtained from different patent attorneys.
The reality is that different patent attorneys will have different levels of experience, understanding of particular technology areas, and philosophies to patent drafting that would probably lead to drastically different patents for the same product/service if those patent attorneys were placed in a room and asked to draft a patent application.
Strong vs. Weak Patents
Why should an inventor care about getting a quality patent? Even if the quality differs, so what?
Typically, an inventor(s) has a business goal in mind when filing for a patent. Whether that be protecting profit margins by stopping competitors from copying their idea, or generating licensing revenue, a strong patent is typically more effective than a weak patent in securing those business interests.
Practically speaking, if the strength of a patent is measured on a scale of 1 to 10, a patent approaching a 10 in strength (potentially stopping many competitors) could have a vastly different impact for an inventor in comparison with a patent approaching a 1 (potentially stopping very few, if any, competitors).
That is why the quality of a patent is important.
Experience Matters
Given the many intricate laws and regulations for obtaining a patent, which typically cannot be learned and understood overnight, seeking the guidance of an experienced patent attorney can help avoid pitfalls that may trap the unbeknownst.
Generally speaking, I find it important to have an experienced patent attorney not just interface with a client, but also involved in the actual writing of the patent application. Too often an inventor meets with an experienced patent attorney, who then delegates most, if not all, of the preparation work to a far less experienced patent attorney.
Such experience can also be a helpful tool in obtaining a strong, rather than a weak, patent.
Avoid the “Fix It Later” Approach
Possibly in an attempt to reduce costs to an inventor, a common occurrence is for inventors to be given the impression that a less than quality patent application can be prepared now, and fixed later.
Although there are certain modifications that can be made after a patent application is filed, there are also plenty of things that simply cannot be changed (e.g., an addition of a new variation of the invention) after filing. Instead of taking such chances, my general approach is the “best foot forward” approach. I believe that trying to submit the best possible patent application, although probably more cost intensive in the short-term, improves the possibility of getting a quality patent granted and hopefully reduces costs in the long-term.
Work with Those Who Inspire More Innovation
Often times, I find that inventors may have thought of an idea, but may not have thought about how others may want to copy that idea. For example, an inventor may only be thinking about the most superior version of an invention, without giving too much thought to inferior versions that would realistically be produced by others.
For whatever reason, possibly in an attempt to reduce costs to the inventor(s), a patent application will often be prepared based on the exact version of the invention that an inventor(s) built. Yet, in such situations, further interaction with the inventor(s) (e.g., Q&A sessions) can easily lead to a more complete gamut of variations to more fully protect the core idea of the invention.
The factors provided above do not represent an exhaustive list, but rather some guideposts to help inventors in selecting a patent attorney. Patent Ingenuity, P.C. has offices in Beverly Hills, Silicon Valley, and San Francisco to assist clients through the patent application process.
