What is covered in our free initial consultation?
Many prospective clients seek a free initial consultation to discuss their IP matters. Anyone who has read our articles and FAQs on IP can sense that we try to be generous with providing helpful IP information. We stick to that same philosophy in our initial consultations with potential clients.
Here are IP issues that we might cover in our free initial consultations:
- whether an invention should be covered by a utility patent, design patent, or both;
- why getting a patent does not protect from infringement;
- the type of information and level of detail required for filing a utility patent application;
- critical timelines and deadlines for filing patent applications;
- why a patentability search usually makes sense and saves money and time in the long run;
- if a freedom-to-operate (FTO) search should be considered;
- the different types of trademarks that can be registered;
- differences between an Intent-To-Use and use in commerce of a trademark
- how we conduct our trademark knockout searches
What is not covered in our free initial consultation?
In our initial consultation, we not delve into the specifics of your IP matter. For example, we would not provide any guidance on whether or not your invention is patentable. Instead, we might suggest that a patentability search should first be conducted before you invest in patenting. Similarly, we would not analyze any prior art patents in order to determine whether your invention is patent-worthy.
Our firm offers flat rate billing for filing patent applications and trademark applications. For utility patent applications, we do not provide estimates during the initial consultation. However, we typically ask potential clients to send us a short summary of the key novel features of their invention so that we can provide a precise flat fee estimate for the initial filing of a utility patent application. We provide these flat rate patent fee estimates free of charge.
Regarding trademarks, our initial consultation would not cover your right to use or register a particular mark in relation to the other potentially similar marks. Instead, we might be able to provide some guidance on whether your particular may be considered generic in relation to the goods or services.
What is an IP strategy session?
If you require more than what we provide in a free initial consultation, an intellectual property strategy session might be worthwhile. In an IP strategy session, one of our registered patent attorneys (i.e., a patent lawyer, and not a patent agent) will meet with you to discuss the specifics of your IP matter and help formulate a strategy for next steps.
To save you from wasting time and money in southern California traffic, we prefer to hold virtual meetings where we can conduct a screenshare session to gain a more visual grasp of your concepts. The goal of an IP strategy session is to equip you with helpful information that enables you to make wise decisions regarding your IP. Feel free to contact us if you would like to schedule an IP strategy session.
