Monday, May 25, 2015

Benefiting From Patent Litigation Contingency Fee Agreements

By Tammie Caldwell


As a patent owner, you could win a lawsuit against infringement on your technology or idea. An offender would try to prove that your patent is either unenforceable, no breach has occurred or is invalid. Attorneys charge high fees to prosecute these kinds of lawsuits. You can drastically reduce legal fees through patent litigation contingency fee agreements.

You get a patent as public recognition with restriction rights on the use of your invention or idea. Someone infringes on these rights by selling, using or making your invention without your express permission. You are engaging in patent litigation when you sue a person who has infringed on your patent.

Opting for a contingent fee kind of arrangement is a way of reducing a clients costs. With these arrangements, an attorney deducts fees from the final settlement figure. There are certain expenses that do not fall into this arrangement. These include hiring expert witnesses, travel expenses, transcripts, conducting depositions and filling fees.

This arrangement gives you an opportunity to seek redress for breach of your intellectual property through a lawsuit you could not have otherwise afforded. You also drastically reduce the risks of loss in the litigation because you will pay your attorney not for the hours they work but for their results. This arrangement highly motivates your attorney to settle the lawsuit in your best interests.

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.

Upon accepting to litigate your lawsuit via contingent basis of fee charging, your intellectual property infringement law firm will aspire for optimum performance. Your case will be very cost effective while taking a very short time. This is the opposite for law firms whose retainer pays for hours worked. Such practices conduct long and numerous depositions. Their practice rests upon long proceedings as they send several attorneys to conferences and hearings. These activities augment billing hours paid for by a client. Such practices are rare should your attorney charge you based on contingency fee agreements.

When you present your case to your attorney during initial consultations, intellectual property infringement legal practitioners will carefully evaluate your case. They will attempt to unveil how big a settlement they would squeeze from your case. Should it be weak, lack credibility or have issues, they will decline to take the case. Should they do so; the reason will be their confidence of winning with an investment on adequate effort.

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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