Whenever new ideas and innovations culminate in products launched on the market, it is a natural concern that these ideas and innovations will be easily copied by competitors and new market entrants. If copying occurs before innovators can protect ideas, by drafting and filing a patent application with the relevant authorities, the resulting impact can be detrimental to companies of any size, whether the innovator is a startup or a multinational corporation.

The best patent firms understand not only the essential principles of patent law in their local jurisdictions, but also bring with them attorneys well-versed in technology, as well as a willingness to work with and understand the technical approach and management strategies of your customers. Leading patent law firms, whether larger firms or boutiques, stand behind their work product and create patents capable of withstanding contentious licensing discussions and even patent litigation actions.

The granting of patents requires that patent applications covering a company’s products be properly drafted, filed and processed with the relevant national and regional patent offices around the world. Good patenting practices generally result from hiring patent attorneys who have relevant experience and education in the technology being covered, including advanced degrees in the sciences and industry knowledge. This is how major companies handle patents.

Best practices also require knowledge of the main strategies and tactics for obtaining, licensing, and enforcing patents. These practices require a fundamental understanding of the law, which often adapts and changes with new challenges, as well as the practical application of the law through a diverse and extensive practice. Major companies employing these techniques can make patent claims that provide the right breadth of patent protection, to cleverly cover competitors’ imitation products and even account for future generations of products, without being invalidated by pre-existing innovations. and a crowd. of the mistakes that are easily made in the esoteric patenting process found in all patent systems.

Buyer caution is advised, because inexperienced patent agents and attorneys can cause problems that are unlikely to be discovered until years after patenting, when the stakes are high. Highly experienced patent professionals, the best of them all, know that of perhaps thousands of patents reviewed to license infringers for value, or needed to enforce the law against bad actors, only a few will adequately cover the products of the industry. competition and will not take the risk. easily invalidated during the course of litigation or before the relevant patent authority. In the US in particular, patent enforcement actions are challenged by numerous allegedly prior references applied by defendants to invalidate patented claims, both in litigation in the appropriate US district court, and also before the US Patent and Trademark Office. Review or an Ex Parte Reexamination.

Choosing the best law firm to handle critical matters can mean the difference between profiting handsomely from the firm’s innovations and ideas, or instead spending a fortune on human and financial capital just to be easily copied by competitors. innovative ideas without any legal recourse. . Getting an attorney who understands patent law and a company’s core technology is of paramount importance, and this is especially true for cutting-edge innovators in the high-tech and biotech industries.

This is not to say that companies seeking patent advice should not be cost conscious, particularly as legal fees have risen in stagnant economies. However, choosing an excellent patent firm is still the preferred option. In recent years, startups and other innovators have chosen to hire boutique patent firms, offering reduced fees without skimping on attorney expertise, to keep fees in line with tight budgets. As seasoned practitioners understand, patents are about quality versus quantity, so today fewer well-crafted patents covering a company’s strategic goals are preferred over amassing many worthless patents produced cheaply. price.