The Initial Value Proposition of Esplin & Associates
Written by Ben Esplin
One of the things that separates Esplin & Associates from other intellectual property law resources is the value we invest in our clients. Not just the early-stage ones, or the most promising, but in all of them. Delivering value to our clients is our fundamental mission, and to ensure we succeed we start at the beginning and give it for free. The purpose of this post is to enumerate and explain how much we give away to new clients, in order to prepare them to spend money on intellectual property protection.
Before we engage a client, we begin with an initial meeting in which we present some background on our firm and the work we do. As part of this presentation, we provide a complete overview of the patent and/or trademark application process, from beginning through grant, with timing and cost for each step along the way. This lesson alone makes the conference worth it for a prospective client who has not been through one or both of these processes, and many clients express their feeling is relief to have a clearer picture of what awaits.
If a prospective client interested in applying for patent protection becomes an actual client (which is also free, since we do not collect retainers), one of our next interactions will be a 60 minute “disclosure meeting.” In this meeting we will thoroughly unpack the innovation(s) the client is interested in protecting. We also hope to learn as much as we can about our client, their product(s), and their direction. Typically, the meeting is attended by me (Ben) and another of the patent attorneys or agents at our firm, at no charge. Anyone who has hired an attorney of any stripe knows how rare it is to have single highly skilled attorney on a call and not get a bill for it, let alone two.
The final free stage for a new client is the reception and discussion of an Intellectual Property Plan which includes a Patent Roadmap we create based on the information we gather in the disclosure meeting. The Patent Roadmap is a hierarchical, bullet-pointed list of features and functions we judge to be potentially protectable via patent. Generally, we try to be exhaustive, and prepare the Patent Roadmap as though money were no object to the client (i.e., include as many potentially protectable features as possible). Our goal is not to create a “punch list” of everything that must be done to provide protection. Instead, we are attempting to be so thorough that our new client can be critical about which features and functions are worth protecting.
The Patent Roadmap can be a valuable asset for a company because it is the foundation of what will eventually mature into a patent strategy, as the client decides which potential patent applications it would like to pursue to protect which features and functions. For a company seeking to raise money, it can even be shared with potential investors to demonstrate the value for the company that will be captured with funds obtained during the raise. By the time a client has been through our initial presentation, the disclosure meeting, and a follow-up conference to discuss the Patent Roadmap, they have come a long way up the learning curve from the point at which they were looking for a patent attorney; and it is all for free.
If you would like to understand the patent process and begin to create a strategy for protecting innovation through patent applications, please feel free to reach out to us for a consultation.