How To Profit From Patent Litigation Contingency Fee Agreements

By Tammie Caldwell


A patent owner would win an infringement on their patent case should they prove that an offending party used their patented technology and idea without permission. A defendant would then attempt to demonstrate that the patent in question was either invalid, unenforceable or no infringement had taken place. Fees charged by attorneys to represent aggrieved individuals or institutions in such cases are often high. An option to reduce such expenses would be taking advantage of patent litigation contingency fee arrangements.

Patents are restricted and publicly recognized rights for the use of inventions. Transgression happens when a party other than the recognized patent owner uses, makes or sells it. Patent litigation lawsuits are cases filed arising from disputes of infringements.

By taking advantage of litigation arrangements based on contingent fees, you will drastically reduce the legal fees you have to foot before full settlement. With this kind of arrangement, your attorney shall deduct their fees from the money you get on settlement. There are certain expenses you will have to meet though. These include hiring your expert witnesses, travel, filing fees, transcripts and conducting depositions.

This kind of arrangement enables aggrieved inventors to pursue their intellectual property breach lawsuit that they could not have otherwise afforded. The inventor also gets to minimize risks of losing the litigation for they pay their lawyers not for the period worked but for results. In this kind of agreement, the lawyer is highly motivated to settle the case should it be in the best interest of their client.

While the lawsuit progresses, the offending party through their attorney could decide to settle by paying you an amount lower than you seek. If your attorney detects weaknesses in your case, they may ask you to consider a settlement. Conversely, the offending party attorneys may have confidence they would win the suit and could advise their client to await the conclusion of the suit because their settlement amount would be bigger.

On engagement to litigate on a contingent fee arrangement, intellectual property litigation lawyers perform optimally. They make sure it is cost effective and takes the shortest time possible. This contrasts with lawyers whose fees are chargeable by the time taken. Such lawyers conduct numerous and long depositions. They engage in long proceedings while sending many attorneys to hearings or conferences. Such activities prolong the hours chargeable to a client in the lawsuit. These kind of proceedings rarely occur when law firms charge their clients on arrangements based on contingency fees.

During initial consultations, lawyers specializing in infringement on intellectual property evaluate the merits of a case carefully. They try to find out how big the settlement would be. If a case is weak, lacks credibility or has a number of issues, such lawyers often decline to take up the case. When a lawyer takes up such a case, it is because they have confidence of wining once they have invested in adequate effort.

A client assisting their lawyer as much as possible is the best way of winning a case. It is prudent that a client provides their lawyer with any information requested and fast. A good relationship with an attorney as they file the intellectual property lawsuit is crucial since chances of winning are higher and both stand to benefit immensely on winning.




About the Author:



Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire