5 Qualities to Look for in a Trademark Attorney
Filing a patent or trademark is no funny business. It can get incredibly expensive and difficult if you’re trying to handle the process on your own. That’s why it’s a good idea to get yourself a trademark attorney in order to handle the process for you.
Why would you want to go through all of the frustration of handling the trademark process on your own? You can easily find a great trademark attorney close to you to help you out. However, not all attorneys are created equally. Read on to explore the top qualities you need to look out for you as you’re searching for the best lawyer.
Success
One of the top factors you should consider when you’re choosing your trademark attorney is how much success they have had in the past. Their success rate for previous clients is going to be the best indicator for the success rate they could have on your case. Be sure to ask them how many patents they have written that have actually gotten issued – this is a key number.
Getting a trademark issued is no easy process, so if you find a lawyer that has a high rate of success, he or she is probably someone to go with!
Great Writing Skills
The perfect trademark attorney has got to have an excellent command on written language. A great way to test this is to ask if you can see examples of trademarks he or she has written over the years. If you don’t understand what is going on in the trademark, it’s likely that a judge or anyone else in the trademark process won’t either.
That’s why you should definitely get a lawyer who can write precisely and concisely. If their writing skills are subpar, it’s time to move on to the next attorney on your list.
Litigation Experience
The perfect trademark attorney needs to have experiencing in defending intellectual property in the court of law. How much experience do they have with handling the courts and the litigation process? This is an important question that you should ask during the screening process. If they don’t have experience, you might find yourself in a pretty sticky place if you’re forced to defend your patent in a federal court.
Common Sense
Do you want an attorney that gets so caught up in the details that he or she forgets about the whole reason you’re applying for a patent in the first place? One of the top qualities you should be looking for is a lawyer with common sense who can always keep their eyes on the prize – you making a profit off of your invention.
People Skill
A lot of the times, your trademark or patent may be rejected by the federal government. This is pretty normal in the process, but then should be the job of your trademark attorney to call up the office that rejected your claim and see why that has been done. A great attorney will be skilled in the art of negotiation.
This means that they will get that person on the phone, get a meeting set up, find the problems with the trademark application, and figure out what needs to be done. A lot of the times, a really skilled trademark attorney will get your claim through the second time with the right negotiation.
Why would you try to go through the trademark process by yourself? You should be getting an excellent trademark attorney on your side who will guide you through the process. However, be sure to keep the above characteristics in your mind before you choose a final candidate.
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