In almost all cases, some time and effort are necessary for a proper evaluation of a client’s intellectual property position. A five-minute telephone interview, or even a half hour interview, may not do justice to this evaluation.
If a client is genuinely interested in understanding his intellectual property, he must engage in a process of evaluation. The first step is an identification of the client and his intellectual property, whether it be a trade name, a song, or an invention. This knowledge is necessary to perform a “conflict of interest” evaluation to determine that there are no conflicts with existing clients. Only in this way can we properly serve the interest of the new client.
Understanding the client and his intellectual property is absolutely essential in order to bring the full value of our experience and perspective to an evaluation of a client’s intellectual property. Over the years we have learned that quick answers very often do an injustice to the client and his intellectual property rights. Rather, each client is unique, as is the client’s situation. Consequently, a client’s situation may range from a simple “do it yourself” copyright registration; to simply keeping a “family recipe” as a secret; to foreign patent prosecution for software; or to filing suit for trademark infringement being perpetrated by a client’s competitors.
In some cases, the solution is very simple. In other cases, a careful evaluation of the subject intellectual property is necessary. This is especially true with regard to inventions that might be subject to patent.
In the more complicated situations, a step-by-step process is very important. At each step, the client decides whether or not additional resources will be expended for further evaluation and protection.
In order to provide the best preliminary evaluation to a client, time and effort must be expended. Accordingly, the cost for a preliminary evaluation is $375.00. In cases of invention, if the client decides to go forward with an additional patentability search and opinion, this sum is deducted from the overall cost.
Each step of the process requires a business decision by the client. The initial $375.00 investment may result in enough information for a client to be willing to spend $1,500 for a complete patentability search an opinion. Such an opinion can inform a client if he should be spending $15,000 on a utility patent application, or if a lesser amount for a provisional patent application would be appropriate.
We can help you understand your intellectual property (patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret), and how to protect it. This evaluation is a step-by-step process. Sometimes it’s simple; other times it’s complex.
There are great number of issues that could be involved when dealing with a client’s intellectual property. Consequently, all intellectual property issues handled by Lev Intellectual Property Consulting are addressed on an individual basis. This approach permits the full experience of our staff to be applied to each of our client’s individual situations.
Since time and thoughtful consideration must be extended to each client, this firm cannot serve as a free resource. For an attorney-client relationship, and its privilege, to be established, a fee of $375.00 is required. This is a small investment for what could prove to be an enormous subject. Because it is virtually impossible to estimate all work that must be done, work will be done on an hourly basis at a rate of $250.00 per hour. However, some discrete projects might be done for specific amounts, depending upon the subject matter involved, and the limits set by the client.