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Patent & Trademark Firm
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My international search came back with about 8 hits but only 2 that was of any threat but not much. I`m now working with an industrial designer doing the concept design stage, and to save time, also began the market analysis. Both are expected to be finished this month and everything is looking up.
Next I`m suppose to hire an attorney (quoted $3,000), to prepare the patent package. Then another $3,000 for the patent filing. What do you think about those numbers??? I`m already into it by $6,500.
Another patent attorney and an agent both told me that to file a patent is $500. So am I filing a different type of patent at the rate of $3,000, or am I just over paying?
How many questions do you get to ask a lawyer when you use legal zoom? Why use legal zoom at all instead of just opening an account with USPTO and register the trademarks yourself?
When I first opened my firm, I would meet with lots of people and charge them nothing or next to nothing. I thought it was like planting a seed for the future. What I found was that people don`t value free advice. I personally have NEVER gotten a long-term payoff from working for nothing - not once. Just one man`s experience. I work in the suburbs of Cleveland Ohio and have a lower overhead. My hourly rate is half of what it would be if I located downtown. In my book, that is the middle ground for me and my clients.
1. making your own clothes
2. cutting your own hair
3. raising your own cattle or pigs for food, etc.
I personally don`t want to get anywhere near these `do-it-yourself` activities.
My experience with patents agents is:
1. they charge less [for some reason]
2. they don`t understand litigation [because they are not lawyers] or how patent claims are approached by judges
patent agents are the nurse practitioners of the patent world. nothing wrong with that if that is what you are looking for. if you need surgery, go to a surgeon. your nurse practitioner won`t cut it in that realm - trust me.
I don`t know whether SCORE will be able to give you specific legal advice. From what I understand, they are retired executives.
I like your domain name. Unfortunately, the Bar would not permit an attorney to work with a name like that because it would be considered unprofessional. You are lucky not being an attorney in that you have fewer rules. I don`t know if there are any USPTO rules about suggesting to potiental clients that prices for services are "dirt cheap."
I agree that it is good for me to position myself as a lower cost professional with lower overhead. I don`t know if there is a line to cross in attracting the wrong crowd by going overboard. Would you go to a doctor that did dirt cheap surgery?
I don`t eat the cheapest food, drive the cheapest car, wear the cheapest clothes, write with the cheapest pens, etc... I personally have not had the best experience with the cheapest of ANYTHING. Still, I do take my 5-year-old to McDonalds when I have to. I also don`t hire a gourmet chef to cook my steaks on the grill.
If I was getting a divorce, or filing bankruptcy or looking into starting a corporation, I personally would NOT look for the cheapest attorney. I would look for somebody that seemed qualified and understood the "big picture" in addition to the details of my case. It is a valid criticism of some attorneys that they charge "too much" [though I`m not sure where that line is].
It is also a valid criticism of some [and in my experience many or most] patent agents that they don`t understand licensing or litigation and thus don`t necessarily draft the best patents. It is not realistic to expect patent agents to understand licensing or litigation and draft patents. Why? Because they have no formal training in contract law or civil procedure. I`m sure they have their limited role to play.
A good patent attorney friend of mine was a patent agent that went back to law school and became an attorney after a few years of being a patent agent. It was his experience that understanding other aspects of the law helped him write better patent applications. I `m not sure there is much room to dispute that more and better training yields more and better ability.
patentandtrademark2006-9-8 14:28:34