How We Manage Your Case
Three Things to Know for Your Patent Infringement Case
You have a patent infringement case. I’m Rich Beem. I’m a patent attorney in Chicago. Here are 3 things that you need to know about managing a patent infringement case. First, there is assessment. Investigation and opinion as to whether there was infringement on a patent. Whether the product you believe is infringing actually infringes the claims of the patent. Or, if you’re on the other side of the coin, if you’re being accused of patent infringement, whether there is a good faith basis to contest that allegation. The other issue that is part and parcel of liability is validity. So to prove patent infringement that the claims read on the product and the patent survives challenges. It is presumed valid and the burden is on the infringer to prove invalidity. So that’s step one is assessment. Is this is a good case? Is there a good case for liability on the plaintiff’s side? Is there a good defense for the party that is accused of patent infringement? The second thing that we like to do at Beem patent law firm - and this is more the exception than the rule – is prepare a written case management plan. We like to include the assessment of the case on the merits, and also to talk through and write up what the various steps that we expect to proceed to get to where we want to end up – which is judgment or a resolution by settlement, that is in favor of our client and one that also can stand up on appeal if necessary. So that’s the second step is the case management plan. And the third step – and again, this is more the exception than the rule – is to provide a budget. Clients don’t like surprises. If you’re corporate counsel or general counsel, your client doesn’t want to be surprised by what it’s going to cost and so we prepare a budget upfront that talks through the various phrases and it correlates with the case management plan. This is what it’s going to cost for the pleadings, this is what it’s going to cost for discovery, this is what it’s going to cost for a motion of summary judgment, this is what it’s going to cost for experts, this is what it’s going to cost for trial. It might change and we might change the budget as we go along, maybe there will be less discovery than we think is needed. Maybe there will be fewer discovery disputes. But, in any event we want to have a budget. Napoleon said you have to have a plan for battle. The battle might not proceed exactly as you expect, but you want to have a plan and then you adjust for things as you proceed through the case. So those are the 3 things that you need to know about managing a patent infringement case. One of them is early assessment on the merits, the second is case management plan – in writing is the best way to do it, and third, a budget. What is this going to cost so there are no surprises to the owners, to the management to the company? We try to predict everything as we can in advance and make adjustments as we go along. I’m Rich Beem. When you have a patent infringement case, call me. I’m at 312-201-0011. Thank you for joining me!
