At The Rapacke Law Group our goal is to provide the most meaningful and effective patent preparation and prosecution services for our clients. Our affordable patent attorneys view the task of securing solid patent protection for our clients’ to be the primary mission, from which licensing, enforcement and other activities flow. While we demand excellence in our work product, we also understand that it is equally important to anticipate needs, be responsive and deliver cost-effective results to our clients.
Our united states patent attorneys have expertise in patent prosecution, litigation, opinion drafting and post-grant practice to maximize the value we add to these important investments. Beyond our direct experience successfully filing thousands of applications with the USPTO, we have the technical ability to handle virtually any project, regardless of complexity.
We are structured to handle projects of any size with a legal support staff including patent agents, paralegals, search specialists, and docketing and research professionals skilled in managing patent portfolios.
We can help with your:
- Non provisional patent application
- Provisional patent application
- Design patent application
Understanding Your Technology and Business Goals
At The Rapacke Law Group we take the time to understand the nuances of your products and their significance in your overall business strategy. We believe that regular communication leads to a deeper understanding of our clients business and legal needs and allows us to devise the most creative and effective strategies to protect our clients’ valuable innovations. Industry experience and technical knowledge are essential when it comes to building durable patents that protect your valuable innovations. With strong engineering backgrounds, our firm’s patent attorneys have extensive academic and practical experience in a wide range of industries including:
- Electrical and Computer Technology
- Software (learn about the cost of software patents)
- Medical Devices
- Semiconductor and Integrated Circuits
- Software and Mobile Applications
- Aviation
- Sports and Fitness
- Toy and Game Products
- Marine and Boating
- Consumer Products
- Automotive
- Robotics
- Firearms and Self Defense
The Importance of Prior Art Searches
Whenever you think you have a new invention, it is always smart to obtain a prior art search before deciding whether to invest time and money into obtaining patent protection. A prior art search is a search conducted by a patent attorney or patent agent to identify any prior art that is publicly available that effectively teaches or suggests your invention. The prior art that is searched includes published patents, patent applications, periodicals and other relevant sources of public information. Prior art searches typically utilize a combination of keyword searching, name searching and searching of art classifications used by the US Patent Office, in combination with other searching techniques, to find relevant prior art.
Responding to Office Actions
When seeking patent protection from the US Patent Office, it is typical to receive at least one Office Action from the patent examiner assigned to your patent application. An Office Action is a written statement explaining the examiner’s position concerning the patentability of your invention claims as presently presented. Claims can be changed, or amended, during the course of patent application prosecution, for the purpose of capturing your invention in a way that distinguishes your invention from the prior art identified by the examiner.
Patent applicants, through their patent lawyers, must respond to Office Actions in a timely manner or risk their patent application going abandoned. When an Office Action is a Non-Final or Final Rejection, applicants have two options for moving forward without letting their application go abandoned:
Amend the claims to distinguish the invention from the cited art, and/or
Argue that the examiner is incorrect or mistaken in his or her interpretation of the cited art.
At The Rapacke Law Group, your first office action response is covered by The RLG Guarantee. we routinely respond to Office Actions by amending claims and arguing the technical points of distinction between the invention and the cited art of record.
A Flat-Fee Approach to Patent Protection
We pursue every avenue to reduce costs for our clients. To ensure that objectives are clearly defined and budgets are met we offer the majority of our services at a cost-effective fixed fee, including:
- Preparing, filing, and prosecuting patent applications at the USPTO
- Offering opinions on patentability, validity, infringement, and freedom to use
- Enforcing patent rights in U.S. district courts and on appeal
- Addressing USPTO post issuance proceedings
To add further value, our patent attorneys help clients to identify new market opportunities and strategic partners. Schedule a free strategy call if you’re ready to get patent pending status for your invention.