Moving Your Ideas Forward

CLIENT-FOCUSED VALUE

• We are committed to understanding your business and technology, because that knowledge is fundamental to providing I.P. protection that furthers your business plan.
• We are a mid-sized firm able to handle large matters, yet not too large to give attention to your needs and the uniqueness of each IP matter. In short, we have the "intellectual critical mass" your I.P. protection requires.
• We have remarkably low turnover where talented attorneys can stay for an entire career. Chances are that the attorney at the beginning of a project will see it through to the end.
• In one case we represented a very successful manufacturer of containers for pharmaceutical products who had been repeatedly threatened with litigation by a competitor in connection with the trade dress claims.  We had already successfully counseled our client in a design around to avoid the other party's patents and viewed the trade dress claims as an effort to continue the patent owner's monopoly.  We counseled the client to bring a declaratory judgment here in the Middle District of Tennessee where its principal place of business is located.  That case was started a few months ago and the parties are on the verge of concluding a settlement agreement which is highly favorable to our client.  At the present time the defendant has requested the terms of the potential settlement agreement, if and when it is consummated be kept confidential.
• In another case, working on an invalidity opinion, we proposed to the client that we provide a letter stating objective facts in which a U.S. patentee admitted that the claims as issued in the United States were unpatentable over patents not considered by the U.S. patent examiner who issued the case thereby saving our client ten thousand dollars and avoiding an argument that may adversely affect the validity of our client's patent.

EFFICIENT VALUE

• While large firms have checklists that are used in every matter because they cannot otherwise effectively manage their attorneys, we understand that each I.P. matter is unique, thereby allowing us to address each I.P. matter individually -- leading to a better result at lower cost.
• We do not rely upon the economic model of leveraging associates. We do not need to resort to over-staffing your case in order to bolster our fees.
• Our firm's location, culture and work ethic allows us to attract exceptional legal talent at a more modest price. Therefore, we can provide you with the services of our senior attorneys at rates charged for junior associates in larger firms.
• Protecting your intellectual property becomes a more streamlined and value added process.
• In one case we were prosecuted an application where we copied claims from a competitor's patent for the purpose of ultimately invoking an interference proceeding. During the prosecution we were able to obtain allowance of claims broader than the copied claims. We made the strategic decision to simply accept those, and not provoke the interference, because we had achieved most of the benefit we could obtain in interference with none of the cost and risk.
• In another case, we advised a client that a full Freedom to Operate opinion was not necessary in a non-core business area, by conducting a search for expired prior art covering the subject matter.

SKILLED VALUE

• Having successfully prosecuted thousands of patent and trademark applications and represented their clients in hundreds of court cases, our legal team has the unique combination of practical experience and value-driven legal performance it takes to move your ideas forward.
• We are a seasoned legal team of 14 talented and experienced I.P. attorneys.  We have breadth and depth of experience and technical backgrounds that allow us to deliver superior I.P. legal services.
• Our associates are trained at our expense, and will not be trained on your projects. New associates go through an extensive patent drafting class that is not charged to you.
• In one case, a former collaboration partner of our client obtained a patent on technology our client believed had been derived from our client, after the client's former patent counsel had determined the technology was not patentable. We designed and prosecuted an application and request for interference proceeding. The interference was initiated, which led to a settlement in favor of our client.

CAPABLE VALUE

• We foster a work environment where the best legal minds can stay for an entire career.
• We create value through continuity, because continuity yields wisdom, experience, and the ability to work quickly and efficiently.
• All of our attorneys earned technical degrees, and virtually all have had work experience that preceded their legal education.
• We go to great lengths to be sure you'll never be billed for the learning curve of a new associate.
• For a large medical device company, we provided a freedom to operate opinion within a month, so decision-makers could act in a timely manner.
• In a recent case, the client retained us to resolve a dispute with a major Fortune 500 company that was in fact a customer of the client. The dispute resulted from the customer having filed and obtained a patent on a system invented by our client and disclosed to the customer. The client assumed that litigation would be necessary. Upon reviewing the facts and concluding that the client had a strong case, we contacted their customer, openly presented the facts to the customer’s patent counsel, and convinced the customer to cooperate in the filing of certificate of correction papers to correct the inventorship. Our client was able to achieve joint ownership of the patent without litigation. Litigation would have most likely placed a significant cloud upon the patent’s validity and would have strained the relationship with the customer, both of which were avoided by our approach.