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.

A patent is a publicly recognized and restricted right to make use of a certain invention. Infringement takes place when another party other than the patented inventions owner sells makes or uses it. The lawsuit filed because of patent infringement disputes is termed as patent litigation.

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.

During the litigation process, the defendant and their attorney could settle the case by offering a settlement amount lower than that sought by the plaintiff. Weakness of the suit appearing may make an attorney advice their client to settle. Conversely, if a defense lawyer is sure of winning, they can advise a client to wait out the full trial 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.

Once an intellectual property infringement lawyer is consulted, they will evaluate a case very carefully to find out how high a settlement would be. Should the case be weak, have numerous issues or lack credibility, most lawyers may decline the engagement. Should a lawyer take a case, it would be because of their confidence in winning on investment of adequate efforts.

Your attorney needs all the help they can get from you, which gives them better chances of success in the lawsuit. You would be prudent to provide all requested information immediately. Having a wonderful working relationship with your lawyer during a lawsuit about breach of your intellectual property rights is vital. It will raise your odds of winning a big settlement and large fees for both of you.




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