Friday, May 15, 2015

Profit From Your Patent Litigation Contingency Fee Agreements

By Tammie Caldwell


Patent owners could win their infringement on their patent lawsuit if they proved an offender has used their patented idea or technology without their permission. An offender would proceed to demonstrate the patent was either unenforceable, no infringement has occurred or is invalid. The fees attorneys charge for representing aggrieved parties in this kind of cases are quite high. A party may reduce such fees considerably by going for a patent litigation contingency fee kind of arrangement.

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.

Taking advantage of contingent fee arrangements reduces out of pocket costs. In such an arrangement, the attorney deducts their fees from a settlement amount. Certain expenses, however, require out of pocket payment such as expert witness hiring, travel, transcripts, filing fees and conduction of depositions.

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.

As the lawsuit progresses, an offender and their attorney may offer to settle a case with the payment of a settlement amount much lower than a plaintiff is seeking. Should a weakness be apparent within the lawsuit, an attorney could advice their client to consider settling. On the other hand, should the defending attorney be confident of winning, they could advice their client to wait for complete trial since they would get a bigger settlement amount to their benefit.

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.

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.

The client needs to help their lawyer when they can, which presents them with higher chances of winning. Prudence is a client providing their lawyer with requested information fast. Formation of excellent relationships between client and lawyer during intellectual property infringement cases is critical. This raises the odds for winning thereby bagging huge settlements and fees.




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