Creative Solutions for Uncommon Problems

In a world of cookie-cutter solutions, Markets, Patents & Alliances stands out from the crowd because where others see problems, we see opportunities. Though the following case files must remain anonymous, they nevertheless demonstrate the ingenuity, creativity and dedication we bring to our work and the success we bring to our clients.

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Case #1: Discovering critical inventions to save a patent

For more information, read about our Patent Agent Services.

A major financial services company had just launched a promising new product. They needed patent protection to keep their competition at bay. When they asked their law firm if they could patent it, however, they got some disturbing news. They had apparently missed the deadline for getting their patent filed.

Or did they?

Not willing to give up, they called us in for a second opinion. They were aware of our reputation as experts in financial service patents and the fact that we were experienced inventors ourselves. They hoped we could find something others had overlooked.

We did.

After personally interviewing the members of their product development team and after poring over their records we found several critical inventions that had been overlooked and were not past their deadline. We prepared and filed a suite of patent applications to cover these inventions just in the nick of time. Not only did this begin the process for getting patent protection but it also gave them a marketing boost as well. As the VP of sales put it “You should see how customers perk up when we tell them that our new product is patent pending. It really helps distinguish us from our competition.”

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Case #2: Getting financial service company interested in licensing a patent pending idea

For more information read about our Insurance Carrier Recruitment efforts.

It’s tough to get an established insurance carrier interested in licensing a new idea. As one leader in the industry put it “Of course we are interested in new ideas, as long as we are already familiar with them.”

An innovative financial institution was having difficulty getting established insurance carriers interested in licensing their new, patent pending insurance product idea. The financial institution wasn’t in the insurance business, so they needed the carrier to partner with them to get the idea to market.

They called us in because we could speak the language of the insurance carriers and because we knew the right people to talk to.We reviewed the client’s patent applications and revamped their pitch materials so that their new idea would look very similar to existing products that the carriers were already familiar with. Then, using our long established industry contact, we opened doors for the client that had previously been closed industry outsiders.

The client is now talking the key people who can license their pending patent application. They have a much more compelling story to tell and are in a significantly stronger negotiating position.

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Case #3: Reducing the time it takes to get a patent through the patent office

For more information read about our Patent Agent Services.

A start-up company had a breakthrough idea in their specialized field of technology. Their competition was hard on their heels and racing them to the patent office.

They needed a patent right away.

They came to us because we knew how to get the patent office to say “yes” when over 90% of the time they were saying “no” to patent applications in their field. We rose to that challenge. Being fearless about learning from the successes of others, we researched all of the patents had recently made it through the patent office in their class of technology in record time. It was a short list, but the keys to success were clear.

They were clear, but they weren’t without some risk. When we quantified the potential time savings for the client, however, they said go for it. Go for it we did. We are proud to say that our client got the fastest patent in their technology class that year. They didn’t just beat the competition, they left them in the dust.