Originally Posted 1/29/06 

A while back I promised to write an article about low quality patent providers or perhaps I should say patent providers that provide low quality patent applications and other services. Well, here is the first of which will likely become a series on the topic. This installment discusses the dreaded “low cost provider”.

The first point an inventor should consider is a simple one that is often lost in the process of shopping for a patent attorney (or agent): Patent applications are not commodities! A patent application written to your invention by one attorney can vary from very poor quality to excellent quality.

Patent application quality is an easy thing for an inventor to lose sight of when deciding who to hire. It is extremely difficult for someone who is not intimately familiar with the patent process to judge the quality of one patent practitioner’s work versus another. So what the inventor does is choose on one the few aspects of the process he/she understands: price.

In about 25-35% of all the calls I receive from inventors inquiring about obtaining a patent, the first question is “how much do you charge to prepare a patent application?”. I actually know at this point that I will not be drafting this person’s patent application. I am not a “low cost provider” and I have no interest in competing with “low cost providers”. I tell the prospective client the general range I charge for a typical application. Often, I explain to them that they can find other practitioners that will prepare their application for less but I also explain that by and large the quality of patent applications prepared by “low cost providers” are in my opinion very poor. Almost universally with price first inquiries my explanation has absolutely no effect. It is too bad really as they will still spend a significant amount of money with a “low cost provider” and they will probably end up with a weak and essentially useless patent that will be (i) very difficult if not impossible to license to a company and (ii) extremely easy for a competitor to design around.

I have had a few applications written by “low cost providers pass” through my office in the last year or so generally for me to respond to an office action rejecting most if not all the claims. The initial rejections are not uncommon and the “low cost provider” is not to blame for the rejection. However, in responding to a rejection, I often need to reference the application’s specification to refute an argument or contention made by the Patent Examiner. With many of the low cost provider applications, there just isn’t any depth to the specification leaving me with little to draw upon. The inventor should keep in mind that in the great majority of cases, I cannot fix the situation because that would require adding new matter to the application and this is not permitted. And for the rare application I can fix, the process is not inexpensive and usually eliminates any savings realized by using the low cost provider in the first place.

I don’t want to imply with this post that I am extremely expensive. Rather, my rates are quite reasonable if you consider the quality of patent application you are receiving. The cost for having me prepare and file an application is usually 25-50% less than using a large national or international law firm. The quality is at least comparable. How do I know; well, I used to work for several large firms before forming my own firm.

I guess something some of you may be wondering is how much can you save using a “low cost provider” to draft and file a patent application for you over using me. Well, anywhere from a $500 to $2000, so if you really just want a patent to hang on the wall with your name on it, go ahead and use a “low cost provider”. However, if you are looking for a quality patent having as much breadth and strength that is available to you under the law, then give me a call.

Wait, wait, wait… there is a kicker: in most circumstances, while an average inventor will spend less using a “low cost provider” over me to draft and file a patent application, in a majority of the circumstances an inventor will spend more money overall going with a “low cost provider”. Confused? Let me give you a hint: it concerns the patentability search and opinion.

Stay tuned: the second installment will deal with patent searches but the third installment will discuss someone even more insidious than the “low cost provider”, the “high priced charlatan”.