Hiring an IP Lawyer? Here are Questions You Must Ask

As business owners, it is important that you choose an IP agent or lawyer after proper research. In most cases, your relationship with the patent law firm will be a long-term one. You should, therefore, be careful when hiring your intellectual property lawyer or agent in Edmonton. Consider it a long-term investment and go out of the way to make sure it is a good fit. It is important to understand that these are professionals who will be advising you on your businesses IP strategy. Most IP lawyers either specialize in patent litigation or patent prosecution. Here are a few questions you ought to ask your IP lawyer or law firm before hiring them:

Legal Experience

Get an understanding of the IP lawyer’s or agents experience. Question them on their previous cases, their clientele, and how they dealt with the challenges that came their way. You can get to know about what they specialize in. Ideally, you should look for an intellectual property lawyer or agent who specializes in handling patent filings. Some other questions that you could ask are:

• How many patent applications do you file in a year?
• Do you have any corporate tiffs owing to your past case handling experience?
• How have your clients benefited from your work?
• Were you successful in handling your previous IP cases?

Cost Estimate

As mentioned above, hiring an IP lawyer or agent is an investment. This means there is outflow of capital. Hiring an intellectual property lawyer or agent for your business will be considered as an expense until the time you start reaping its benefits. If the quote you get is too low compared to the market average, then don’t fall for it immediately. Some times you get what you pay for. Don't base your decision purely on the cost factor.

Way of Working

This should be the most important criteria for selecting an IP lawyer or agent. You will be actively collaborating with your lawyer or agent while filing for patents, trademarks, and copyrights. This will require you to communicate with them from time to time. It is important you get to know their work process before you hire them. Ask them how many times do they meet their clients in a month? Do they prefer emails or phone calls or both? Find out if their way of working suits you before you make your final decision.

This was a broad framework of the kind of questions you can be asking your prospective IP lawyer or agent. If you are looking for a reputed law firm, get in touch with us.