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March 12, 2005

how to lower the cost of obtaining patent protection

Russ Krajec over at the Anything Under the Sun Made by Man blog has a great tutorial  for small companies and solo inventors looking to save money during the patenting process.  Some of Russ’ suggestions include:

• Judiciously limit the number of inventions to be patented to the “core” items.
• Look to smaller patent law firms that are more inclined and geared toward working with smaller companies and individual inventors.
• Have a business plan.

The third point is one I often make to my clients — if your patent attorney isn’t asking for business plan (in addition to attending your strategy and planning meetings) that is a patent attorney that should be fired. 

They are not working in your best interest.

The acquisition of intellectual property (especially patents) for any company with limited resources must be geared specifically to the company’s core business plans and strategy.  Failure to focus the patenting efforts upfront results in a situation that Russ describes and I have often seen — the filing of numerous U.S. and foreign “kitchen sink” patents that are overly broad and not focused on specific business. 

Kitchen sink patents are of value to companies that have the funds to manage and exploit these assets (e.g. IBM), but kitchen sink patents are rarely the best practice for companies looking to strategically protect a key component — the spiralling costs of prosecution and maintenance will catch up in a very short period of time.  The result: usually a lot of money spent arguing with the patent office to narrow and clarify the claims. 

I once heard a patent attorney call such kitchen sink patents their “retirement fund.” 

Maybe it is time to start rethinking how intellectual property is acquired.  Just a thought.

Posted by Douglas Sorocco at 10:39 AM.
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