Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP helps many businesses apply the same rigor and quality of thought to the building, maintenance, and leveraging of their patent portfolios as they usually apply to other decision-making processes. Our goal is to integrate patenting activity with the overall goals and plans of the business. We have the skills and experience necessary to acquire intellectual property rights and to leverage those rights in the marketplace and courts. But we also understand how to help a business make better, more-informed decisions regarding what to protect, how to protect it, and when and where to seek protection.
In undertaking a portfolio assessment, our lawyers review both the technology spaces in which a client operates and the market opportunities that the client seeks to pursue. Beyond patent prosecution we can identify a variety of tactics to accomplish a portfolio’s expansion, including through a licensing agreement or an acquisition. Similarly, we can leverage a client’s portfolio to monetize their existing patents by selling or licensing the rights to them. No matter which strategy we pursue, it is always with business objectives at the forefront.
Our business-focused intellectual property portfolio management rests on these tenets:
This last tenet reflects an increasingly important aspect of portfolio management related to the patents held by non-practicing entities (NPEs). Fitch Even has a sophisticated understanding of the portfolio objectives for all patent holders including NPEs, having represented them in both patenting activities and in infringement litigation. We are often able to resolve infringement controversies by helping to orchestrate the sale of entire portfolios or the licensing of specific patents in a portfolio, to help the parties monetize their patent rights while avoiding the cost of a trial. This ultimately creates more meaningful market opportunities that encourage innovation.
Fitch Even’s integrated portfolio management approach has helped a number of clients maintain vigorous portfolio development strategies. Fitch Even lawyers are committed to advancing the critical thinking and innovated planning essential in today’s global economy to become trusted advisors to our clients.