Intellectual Property
The firm offers services related to patent, trademark and copyright procurement and exploitation to start-ups, small to medium sized companies, scientists, doctors, and entrepreneurial individuals.
Hate to find parking downtown? Travel 6 miles west to my Gates office and avoid parking hassles and fees.
General Practice
The firm offers services such as residential real estate, wills, health care proxies, living wills, small to mid-sized estate administration and small business matters.
Alternative Legal Billing
Our firm offers value based legal services. Based on the results of the 2009 AIPLA Economic Survey, our fees are significantly less than large city * legal fees for the same services. In fact, our fees are less than the national average for the same services. We know that there are places that offer seemingly incredible fees for some types of legal work. The old adages are true – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, and you get what you pay for. Our legal firm offers quality legal services at reasonable rates.
Most of our clients prefer to be billed on a project basis rather than traditional hourly billing. We listened. We now offer a schedule of fixed fees for most of our intellectual property services. You can budget knowing the cost for each step in the process. No more guesswork. No surprises. Just fair charges for legal services.
* 75% percentile for large cities such as San Francisco or Boston.
Trademark Legal Services
| Legal Service | large city | national average | our typical fee | |
| 1 | Trademark Clearance search, analysis and opinion | $5,000 | $1,440 | $600 |
| 2 | Trademark Application Preparation and Filing | $5,000 | $867 | $500 |
| 3 | Trademark Prosecution | $5,000 | $1,678 | $750-1,000 |
| 4 | Trademark Statement of Use | $850 | $413 | $250 |
| 5 | Trademark Section 8 and 15 Preparation and Filing | $1,000 | $481 | $300 |
| 6 | Trademark Renewal Application Preparation and Filing | $1,000 | $522 | $325 |
| 7 | Filing Foreign Origin Trademark Reg. App. Ready for Filing | $2,900 | $647 | $400 |
| 8 | Filing International Trademark Registration | $3,500 | $1,231 | $500 |
Provisional Patents (“Patent Pending”)
| Legal Service | large city | national average | our typical fee | |
| 1 | Minimal complexity mechanical (10 page spec) | $2,000 | ||
| 2 | Relatively complex chemical | $4,000 | ||
| 3 | Relatively complex mechanical | $3,000 | ||
| 4 | Relatively complex electrical | $3,500 |
Original Domestic Utility Patent Applications
| Legal Service | large city | national average | our typical fee | |
| 1 | Minimal complexity mechanical (10 page spec, 10 claims) | $11,000 | $7,879 | $5,500 |
| 2 | Relatively complex chemical | $20,000 | $12,313 | $8,500 |
| 3 | Relatively complex mechanical | $17,500 | $12,313 | $7,500 |
| 4 | Relatively complex electrical | $15,000 | $9,699 | $8,000 |
U.S. Design Patent Application Preparation & Filing
| Legal Service | large city | national average | our typical fee | |
| 1 | Design Patent Application | $3,250 | $1,902 | $950 |
Patent Prosecution
| Legal Service | large city | national average | our typical fee | |
| 1 | Minimal complexity Amendment | $3,500 | $2,322 | $1,400 |
| 2 | Relatively complex chemical Amendment | $8,000 | $3,819 | $2,500 |
| 3 | Relatively complex mechanical Amendment | $5,000 | $3,135 | $2,000 |
| 4 | Relatively complex electrical Amendment | $6,000 | $5,021 | $2,200 |
| 5 | Issuance of Allowed Application | $1,625 | $858 | $400 |
| 6 | Paying Maintenance Fee | $500 | $451 | $150 |
Patent Searches
| Legal Service | large city | national average | our typical fee | |
| 1 | Patent Novelty Search – U.S. search only | $500 | ||
| 2 | Patent Novelty Search – global search only | $750 | ||
| 3 | Patent Novelty Search, analysis & opinion | $13,750 | $3,940 | $1,250 |
| 4 | Post-search novelty counseling- per patent | $500 | ||
| 5 | Validity/Invalidity – per patent | $32,500 | $14,669 | $7,000 |
| 6 | Infringement/Non-Infringement – per patent | $26,250 | $12,990 | $7,000 |
| 7 | Validity/Infringement – per patent | $40,000 | $21,002 | $10,000 |
International Patent
| Legal Service | large city | national average | our typical fee | |
| 1 | Filing of foreign origin utility patent in USPTO received ready for filing with formal papers, assignment & priority documents | $2,500 | $1,502 | $700 |
| 2 | Filing of utility patent in foreign office – per country exclusive of foreign associate and government fees | $2,500 | $1,335 | $600 |
| 3 | Filing previously prepared patent as a PCT to US receiving office | $2,000 | $1,329 | $750 |
| 4 | Entering national stage in US from PCT | $1,500 | $1161 | $675 |
| 5 | Entering national stage in foreign patent office from PCT | $2000 | $1271 | $500 |
| 6 | Paying maintenance or annuity fee | $500 | $437 | $150 |
Copyright Registration
| Legal Service | large city | national average | our typical fee | |
| 1 | Copyright Registration Preparation & Filing | $1,050 | $416 | $300 |
An innovative approach: unbundled legal services
Our firm has always believed in providing unbundled (“a la carte”) legal services to our clients. Clients should pay for only the services they need or can afford. Sometimes you can get by without all of the bells and whistles. The bare bones will do the trick. You can go to an online legal provider to do a lot of things these days. However, the online provider cannot offer legal advice. If you ask for an LLC, they will set you up with an LLC and probably do a good job. However, they won’t advise you whether an LLC, LLP, C-corp, S-corp or other business entity is the best for your situation. They won’t be able to advise you on the practical matters that follow formal entity formation. They probably won’t assist you with your organizational meeting, minutes preparation, tax filings and drafting and adoption of your bylaws or operating agreement.
Here’s where we come in the picture. You can still get the convenience and lower prices of online (“virtual representation”) professional services with an actual attorney providing legal advice and guidance. Our streamlined process enables us to provide cost-effective legal services to meet many of your needs; Our technology allows us to provide quick and efficient services in a manner that reduces our overhead, and we pass those savings on to you. Without the need for a face to face meeting, we can review information you provide to us, review it, advise you, and prepare the appropriate documents for an inexpensive flat fee. We can deliver documents electronically to reduce the administrative handling and mailing costs associated with hardcopies. Our fees are slightly more than popular online providers, but you get the peace of mind knowing an attorney is guiding you along the way and is there to answer your questions.
Unbundled services that we can offer include:
- patent searches
- powers of attorney
- health care proxies
- living wills
- provisional patent applications
- patent assignments
- trademark assignments
- invention assignments
- LLC formation
- Incorporation
- Bylaws for corporations
- Name searches for new businesses
- Promissory notes
- Private mortgages
- Corporate meeting minutes & organizational meetings
- Operating agreements for limited liability companies
- Legacy planning
- Co-inventor agreements
- nondisclosure agreements
- non-compete agreements
- sales representative agreements
- consultant agreements
- wills
- trademark searches
- trademark registration
- copyright registration
- sale or transfer of a business
- sale or transfer of real estate
- deeds
Don’t see what you are looking for? Just ask! For those that prefer more interactive representation, we offer telephone and in-person meetings. You pay a bit more, but the benefits are often priceless. Having a relationship with your attorney is always the best way to go when circumstances and budgets allow for this type of representation.