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Patent Information : General : How to Evaluate a Patent Law Firm
There are 4 top metrics clients should use to determine the reputation of your attorney and his/her patent firm, they are:
- Is the attorney a member of the US Patent Bar, in good standing, and without complaints? To answer this, you can search the USPTO Attorney Patent Bar database. For example, our principal's registration number is 52614- just enter that into the “Registration Number” field and you will see his entry in the Patent Bar Database. You should not deal with anyone who is not in this official Patent Bar database.
- What companies has the patent firm worked for and what do clients say? This tells you the skill level of the attorney/firm. If there practice is mostly focused on individual inventors, then their quality of work is usually lower, mostly because their clientele are not legally sophisticated enough to tell the difference, and often are not willing/able to pay for advanced services. Also, you will want to ask for feedback from past clients. If others like you had a good experience, then you are likely too as well.
- How long has the patent firm been in business? Generally, you want the firm/attorney to have been in active practice for at least 3-5 years. It takes a minimum of 5 years of real-world experience to "learn the ropes" in patent law. Of course, you'll want a lot more experience than that on your team.
- How many patents has the patent firm filed, with what success, and in what technical areas? Generally, you want at least 100 patents in not only mechanical, but software, electrical, and business methods. Even if your innovation is in only one category, a patent firm having good experience in the other areas too will add much value to the more sophisticated legal issues of your case. You will also want your patent firm to win patents quickly. The average speed for patents to be issued (per the USPTO) is within about 3 office actions (OA). For example, Bay Area IP wins patents within 2 OAs, on average.