Spending too much on patents? Concerned about the economic downturn?
You should forward this article to your Board of Directors and founders of companies you know.
I am often asked how Clocktower’s patent lawyers compare to “Big Law” patent lawyers. I honestly don’t know the answer.
We often inherit patent portfolios from “Big Law” firms, but who gets credit for the issued patents? The firm that drafted the specification? Or the one that prosecuted the claims from pending to issued? The same question arises when one of our startup clients gets acquired and transitions to “Big Law.”
Here are two datapoints you should know:
- Clocktower files fewer patents/year, patents/lawyer, and patents/lawyer/year than other firms.
- Since 2001, 38 of Clocktower’s clients have been acquired with exits valued at over $6 billion.
Top 10 Reasons To Switch From “Big Law” To Clocktower
10. Our attorneys have built startups of their own, so we get it. We get what it means to be an entrepreneur, what is at stake, and how IP works in the real world. We will zealously represent your startup, act with your best interests in mind, and work tirelessly to help your business reach its goals by giving you the advice that we would want if your startup were ours.
9. Clocktower primarily represents startups and has a history of helping them succeed. Since 2001, 38 of Clocktower’s clients have been acquired with exits valued at over $6 billion. Hire us, get acquired, fire us, do it again. That’s our model.
8. In 40% of the cases after our patent search, we recommend NOT proceeding with a patent application. This is a good outcome for startups, because overspending on patents is an opportunity cost: it’s money that you should have been spending on product, not on patents.
7. While our hourly rate is high, many services are offered at a flat rate. Also, our attorneys have no billable hour quotas.
6. We’re very good at budgeting. We recommend budgeting $30,000/patent/country and $3,000/trademark/country. If you use our numbers on a five-year budget, then in most cases you will be plus or minus 20%.
5. We’re technology generalists. I’m electrical engineering from MIT, Mike is computer science from Harvard. Between the two of us, we’ve studied just about everything except bio and pharma. So it’s easier to say which patents we DON’T do rather than which we do: no bugs, no drugs.
4. We have helped you battle adversity previously: “FreePatentsForStartups.com” (2020) (https://www.clocktowerlaw.com/6000.html), “50% Discount For Muslims, Immigrants, And Others Marginalized By The Trump Administration” (2017) (https://www.clocktowerlaw.com/1988.html), “FreeTrademarksForStartups.com” (2008) (https://www.giantpeople.com/1097.html).
3. Serial Boston entrepreneur John McEleney (Onshape, acquired by PTC; CloudSwitch, acquired by Verizon), quoted on the home page of Clocktower’s website, can’t be wrong: “I have worked with Erik and the Clocktower team while I was at CloudSwitch and have been working with him at Onshape. They do great work – fast, efficient, and affordable.”
2. Serial Boston entrepreneur Paul English (KAYAK: IPOed, acquired by Priceline), quoted on the home page of Clocktower’s website, can’t be wrong: “Clocktower Law gets it. They get how patents and trademarks work in the real world. And they really get the Internet. I’ve used Erik for patents, copyrights, and domain name purchase negotiations. I highly recommend his services and will use him again.”
1. Serial New York City entrepreneur Brian O’Kelley (Right Media, acquired by Yahoo!; AppNexus, acquired by AT&T), quoted on the home page of Clocktower’s website, can’t be wrong: “Erik did a great job helping me file a couple of critical patents early in Right Media’s lifecycle. I hadn’t been through the patent process before, but I knew that getting patents that clearly represented the technologies and their business implications was critical. Clocktower was fantastic, the work product was excellent. They’re a great choice.”
Summary
A reminder: You should forward this article to your Board of Directors and founders of companies you know.
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