Our Services

Services and Tactics - In Brief

Our firm gets the "Best Bang for the Budget"^TM by choosing appropriate tactics in view of the client's needs and the client's budget. SVPG is a "job" firm in that we make an exact price proposal to our clients for each separable "job" desired along the usually-many-years effort. These SVPG "jobs" might include, for example:

1. services to apply for initial protection of inventions,
2. update that protection,
3. formalize that protection,
4. argue patentability with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO),
5. file patent appeals to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) of the USPTO,
6. obtain patent application allowances,
7. keep issued patents in force by payment of maintenance fees,
8. extend the scope of the patent application to various foreign jurisdictions,
9. assist with prosecution in those jurisdictions to obtain issuance of foreign patents, etc., and
10. other related services as desired/required.

Among the tactical tools (in our toolkit or "arsenal") of particular value in hard times are provisional patent applications. "Provisionals" may be used tactically under appropriate circumstances in many ways, including:

1. When there is a temporary need to file very informally, either through our firm or by way of a client "self-file";
   
   
2. When there is a temporary need to file multiple invention updates with a minimum budget, as for a period of research and development in which improvements are being made purposefully over a period of, say, three months to a year;
   
   
3. When, after filing a formal non-provisional patent application, the client makes one or a series of invention updates and desires prompt protection with minimum cash-flow for up to a year after such updates; and
   
   
4. When there is a temporary need for an "omnibus" provisional where there is savings in teaching several to many related inventions in one large application.

It is possible to get full legal protection and filing date with a provisional even if it is informally done; the payment for formality is not saved but may be delayed for up to a year to save cash-flow.

Each SVPG "job" price includes our following-through until the next job is quoted and authorized (or the client decides to abandon the application). The following more specific job descriptions illustrate examples of all the services included in our jobs, many of which services are the source of "nickel-dime" billing in typical patent firms.

Examples:

Provisional Patent Application at One Pre-Agreed Fixed Fee

• Advantages:
  • Low cost USPTO filing fees
  • Maximum adjustability to meet budget limitations
  • Gives a 1-year window to allow marketing, development, fundraising, etc. before patent office examination (incurring more cost and fees)
  • Gives "Patent Pending", warning off competition while establishing a presence
  • Defers examination costs and fees for a year
  • Effectively adds an additional year to the life of a patent
• Includes:
  • In-depth patentability analysis based on searching
  • Specification
  • Drawings
  • Complete claim set
  • All client consultations,
  • Filing the case with the USPTO
  • All USPTO and client correspondence needed to prepare and file the application
  • Tracking deadline to file a non-provisional patent application

Converting our Provisional to Non-provisional at One Pre-Agreed Fixed Fee

• Advantages:
  • Most formalities are already in our Provisional Patent Application
  • Minimizes conversion costs
  • Following Formal-Provisional to Formal Non-Provisional Patent Applications tactic spreads the expense of filing for a patent over a year
• Includes:
  • Conversion of a provisional patent application, that we previously did, to a non-provisional application
  • Updating/expanding specification with any new information
  • Updating/expanding drawings for new info
  • Updating claims to address current case law and USPTO practices
  • Focusing claims on areas of commercial significance and particularly novelty
  • Filing the case with the USPTO
  • All USPTO and client correspondence needed to prepare and file the application
  • Tracking status of USPTO examination progress
  • Reporting status to client
  • Tracking deadlines for future actions
  • Receiving and reporting to client receipt of USPTO office actions
  • Initial analysis sufficient to quote fixed-fee price to respond to office action

More to come!