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Planning a Patent Strategy that Keeps you Out of Court

No one likes to go to court, so make sure you have a clear and concise patent strategy will keep you coming up with new ideas rather than having to spend time and money defending old ones.  Some strategies include using either a intellectual property (IP) attorney, trademark / patent firm or consultancy enterprise to vigorously defend patents as a means of generating income.  However, you can plan your patent strategy to lead you away from litigation.

When hiring an attorney, trademark or patent firm to assist you with composing a patent strategy, you'll want to make sure you've considered your market and competition.  A good patent strategy will start out with the basics of what you intend to do with your IP and who else might be developing the very same thing.  As you'll soon learn from your attorney, trademark, patent and copyright matters are very time sensitive so, the sooner the better.

When determining just what you can and can't afford when it comes to defending patents as part of a patent strategy, the matter is not as straightforward as you might think.  Your IP attorney or trademark / patent consultant will be able to look deeper into your company's IP portfolio to see what you will be working with today and in the future.  Often, this includes evaluating the competition for similar work, so your patent strategy should also include a planning and research budget.

This evaluation phase of patent strategy planning is necessary before you can proceed with the business of actually filing and building what some call a “patent portfolio.”  With the advice of a qualified attorney, trademark or patent portfolios can assist you in choosing invention paths that haven't been trod before.  There may be items that have a specific life-span.  Your attorney or trademark / patent lawyer will be able to find and organize materials into a coherent patent strategy that outlines your organization's assets and liabilities.

When it is finally time to set out on your patent strategy journey, you'll be ready to decide what patents to keep and which to sell off.  With the help of your attorney, trademark or patent decisions will become a bit clearer and you'll be able to confidently plan rather than bumbling though and perhaps finding yourself unexpectedly in a courtroom.