With these tips, you can work together more cost-effectively to protect your innovation
A patent can add considerable value to your organisation, but drafting a strong patent application requires work and that obviously comes at a cost. In the article below, we give some tips on how you can make the work of the patent attorney more efficient, in order to limit costs.
Start with an exploratory conversation
Everything starts with the question: is a patent the right choice? After all, not every innovation is eligible for a patent. For example, rules of the game, medical procedures, certain software and business methods are excluded by law. In addition, it must be a technical invention: a product or a process to make or use a product or to process data.
Are you unsure whether your invention is patentable? Then discuss your idea with one of our patent attorneys first. This way you avoid investing time and money in an application that has little chance. At Oryon, we do not charge for an exploratory meeting, in which we can already provide a lot of clarity about the patentability of your innovation.
Know what makes your innovation stand out
A strong patent is not about your entire product, but about the one aspect that distinguishes it from existing solutions. Therefore, think in advance about questions such as:
What already exists today? What makes my solution different? What advantage does that difference provide? The more clearly you can identify that added value, the more efficiently the patent attorney can translate your innovation into a strong patent application.
Be as complete as possible in your description
A patent attorney usually charges an hourly rate and easily works 15 to 30 hours on a qualitative patent application. However, you can significantly reduce this time by working well together. This does not mean that you have to write legal texts yourself, but it does mean that good preparation pays off.
A sketch, photos, technical drawings, a prototype or a short description help enormously. So collect everything you have to interpret your technical invention. It is also important that you immediately discuss all variants of your invention. After all, a patent application forms a logical whole, which means that the entire document must be revised when you add new variants. Compare it to a renovation: adding an extra bathroom to the building plans is easy, but if you want an extra bathroom when your house is almost finished, the costs quickly add up.
Use AI with caution
It seems tempting to have an AI tool write a first draft of your patent application. In practice, this rarely saves time. An AI-generated text often lacks the legal and strategic nuances needed for a strong patent application. As a result, it takes the patent attorney more time to thoroughly rework the text. Feel free to use AI as a tool to structure your ideas, but leave the drafting of the patent application to a patent attorney. This way you avoid extra work and unnecessary costs.
Always make sure that you don’t just share your secrets with a public AI platform. That alone can lead to your invention no longer being considered new.
Is a novelty search always necessary?
Many entrepreneurs wonder whether they should first have a novelty survey carried out. Such a preliminary search can be interesting, but it takes quite a bit of time and is expensive in relation to the cost of a patent application. Therefore, count on our advice to decide whether or not a novelty search is desirable.
Are you already doing some research yourself? Then the results are certainly valuable to pass on. They help the patent attorney to gain insight into the existing technology more quickly. If that turns out to be desirable, you can of course contact us for an exploratory novelty search.
Look beyond the hourly rate
Not only the hourly rate of the patent attorney determines the cost price, but also how an office works. Therefore, it is best to ask a few questions in advance: is the first interview free? Do you get a clear estimate of the time needed? Will there be additional office costs? At Oryon, you can count on clear price agreements in advance. Moreover, we already bring a lot of clarity during a free first consultation. Don’t forget the official taxes
The fee of a patent attorney is only part of the total cost. In addition, you also pay official taxes and fees to the patent offices when filing. Moreover, once a patent is granted, you pay annual renewal taxes from the third year onwards to keep your protection active. These taxes increase as your patent gets older.
Both the filing tax and the conservation taxes depend on the countries or regions in which you want protection. The broader you protect your innovation, the higher the total costs. That is why it is important to think carefully about your commercial ambitions in advance. In which markets do you want to be active? Where are your competitors? And in which countries do you want to secure your monopoly?
A patent attorney helps you to make the right strategic choices. In this way, you only invest in protection that really offers added value. Moreover, you have to look at the rising renewal taxes in the light of the value that your patent provides: as long as your patent remains active, you enjoy exclusive protection and you get more time to further expand your commercial position.
You also make a difference during the process
A smooth collaboration limits the time your patent attorney needs to complete your file. Therefore, respond quickly when the patent attorney asks additional questions or requests documents. The longer your file remains, the more time is needed to go through and complete it again.
Be sure to read the design or draft patent application carefully. Focus mainly on the conclusions or ‘claims’. You usually find them at the end, just before the drawings. The claims determine the scope of protection of your patent and are therefore the important part of the design.
Even after the patent application has been filed, smooth cooperation remains important. After all, the patent office can ask additional questions or raise objections during the assessment procedure. Your patent attorney will review those comments, advise on the best approach and let you know if your input is needed. You can speed up this process by responding as quickly as possible. This way you not only avoid delays but also unnecessary extra costs.
It also regularly happens that the conclusions or claims have to be adjusted. So those are the passages that determine what you ultimately get protection for. Therefore, take the time to discuss the proposed changes in detail with your patent attorney so that your patent certainly offers the right protection.
Consider your patent attorney as a strategic partner
A patent attorney not only writes your patent application, but also thinks along with you about the protection of your innovation, follows up legal deadlines, advises on (international) strategies and guides you through the entire procedure. It is therefore a good idea to communicate clearly about your business objectives and budget, so that the patent attorney can take them into account. Good cooperation and communication not only result in a stronger patent, but also a more efficient process and a lower total cost.
Read everything you need to know about patents in our e-book
Finally, we recommend that you read our e-book patents. In that e-book, our patent attorneys have summarised everything you need to know before you start a patent application. From the conditions for a patent to the pitfalls to avoid them, you will discover everything you need to know to make informed choices.
