Federal Circuit Court of Appeals Holds Against Patent Holders Nearly 2/3 of the Time

Potential clients frequently ask us about the cost of getting a patent. The proportion of the costs attributed to legal fees often surprises them. Patent Office filing fees are as low as $75 for a provisional application and $455 for a nonprovisional application, so clients ask why they should pay us multiple thousands of dollars to get a patent application drafted and filed.

Professor Glenn Reynolds from the University of Missouri law school has a new post on his blog at Patently-O.com with a preliminary analysis of patent cases at the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the highest appeals court below the U.S. Supreme Court. The story told by these data is incomplete, but they highlight the many challenges facing inventors in enforcing their patent rights. As professor Reynolds notes, the America Invents Act changed the role of the Federal Circuit in deciding patent cases and as a result patent challengers are much more likely to win on appeal.

We work with small inventors and startups all the time. We know how important every dollar is to the success of your venture. Even our clients who have a little bit more in the budget for legal fees don’t want to pay any more than they have to for their professional services. We don’t aim to be the cheapest attorneys in the marketplace, but the job satisfaction of every single person at Accelerate IP depends on adding value to your intellectual property for every dollar you spend. If you have any questions about what challenges are out there for patentees or what value we can add to your application or patent prosecution, click the link on the website or give us a call. We’re here to help.