A patent suit, or even the threat of a suit, can be extremely disruptive to the health of a business, both psychologically and financially. Defending against a patent attack or threat can require not only large legal fees, but also large demands on the time of key people. Employee and customer confidence can also be affected. The average patent litigation costs are in the millions.
However, the majority of patent disputes do not go into litigation. Every business which faces such a threat must consider how best to manage it: some patent threats aren’t serious, and will go away; some can be settled for small amounts by a quick negation; but some threats can lead to very serious consequences for a business which ignores them.
We offer unbiased initial patent threat assessment service to budget-conscious companies, an unusual service that can be attractive to companies who are facing or worried about patent threats and litigation cost. For a small flat fee or customized fee structure we will do initial threat assessments of specific patents with respect to a specific product. If required and with a separate fee, a formal opinion letter may be produced.
We can also respond to threatening letters, conduct licensing negotiations, and/or work with litigation counsel if a lawsuit occurs.
This initial phase of threat assessment can be important for a company to decide its defense strategy and allow an unbiased chance to assess the danger before they pay a large retainer to a litigation firm, and may be a chance to avoid litigation at all.
Although we do not handle litigation ourselves, our firm is experienced in patent licensing and litigation. We offer special services should litigation be necessary to match up our clients with a suitable litigation firms, taking account of the size of the matter as well as the location of the litigation. We will help our clients choose a litigation firm based on various factors with the client’s specific goals in mind. The fact that we do not handle litigation ourselves allows us to provide these valuable unbiased initial services to clients.
