We thought it would be helpful to let you know what our ideal clients are like.

We prefer clients who understand that patents are not fungible commodities: no two patents are alike, and the preparation of each patent calls for individual attention.

Our ideal clients appreciate the value of what we call "patent-driven research". Rather than simply coming to us with a set of results and saying, "Write us a patent", ideally our clients respect our opinions and consequently involve us much earlier in the process. This allows us to better understand our clients' current research efforts and results, to put those in the context of what may or may not be patentable, and to advise our clients what additional research would be useful to help secure meaningful patent protection. Our ideal clients also realize that involving us at an early stage of the decision-making process enables us to advise our clients when it might not be worth trying to enter a particular market because patent protection is foreclosed, or when the development of a particular product should be modified or even nipped in the bud in view of others' patents.

Our ideal clients respect their competitors. They understand the need to be aware of their competitors' patents, and in some cases to work around those patents to avoid infringement. Conversely, our ideal clients understand that for their own patents to be commercially valuable, those patents need to be valid, yet of broad enough scope to keep competitors as far away from our clients' technologies as possible, so that, ideally, competitors won't be able to work around our clients' patents.

In some cases our clients want patents with a high license value. In other cases our clients want to be confident that when investors contemplate investing in our clients, our clients' patent portfolios won't preclude such investment. In all cases, our ideal clients want to be as sure as possible that when it comes time to enforce their patents, those patents will withstand judicial scrutiny.

Our ideal clients understand the importance of providing their customers with value, and expect their patent counsel to do the same for them. Thus our ideal clients are willing to pay for top-quality work by top-quality professionals, but without high mark-ups for ancillary services such as photocopies and faxes. Our ideal clients appreciate that by maintaining low overhead, we can provide the kind of value they seek.

Our ideal clients understand that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure: that by enabling us to do things properly early in the process, our clients facilitate better and less costly outcomes for themselves in the long run.