HACKER Q&A
📣 fxtentacle

Patent Attorney on Commission?


Dear HN,

I know that when you've been wronged by a competitor, you can book a case insurance and/or hire an attorney on commission where they'll get paid as a percentage of the settlement that they win. That's also why attorney sometimes try to drum up class-action lawsuits.

I'm now wondering if anyone knows a similar system for patents, where you effectively team up with an attorney to patent your invention/product and then sell the rights together, meaning the attorney gets a cut of the revenue that he/she enabled.

The reason I'm asking is because I see a catch 22 situation otherwise: To pay for patent coverage, you need investment. But disclosing your technical moat to get investment is risky without patents. And to financially prove the usefulness of a patent, you need to manufacture the product. But if you do that without patents, you're going to compete with a copy of yourself on Alibaba.

Also, I've heard that there should be public funding for technology research and resulting IP in Europe, but I can't seem to find any "starting point" position to contact.

In general, how would you approach securing a product before you send the files to China for manufacturing?

  👤 PaulHoule Accepted Answer ✓
It is not that hard to file a patent application yourself, particularly a provisional patent application. In the US there is a program where new filers can get 50% or 75% off filing fees so the fees turn out to be a tiny fraction of what a lawyer will charge you just for the discussions over whether they think twitter is worth filing a patent. (Their opinion is worth something but could well be wrong because that’s mostly a question of technology and commerce, not law.)

A provisional patent application is around $60 with the discount. It is good for just one year, in which case you need to file a real patent. The PPA is a great weapon in commercial disputes however and lets you slap a ‘patent pending’ label on your product.

Nola press publishes books on how to file patents that are at most public libraries in the US, reading one of those is your next stop.

👤 brudgers
Not having money isn't a catch 22.

It's just not having money.

And hence not having money to burn on a patent attorney "just in case."

Under-capitalization means some options are off the table, licensing a patent in this case instead of manufacturing.

On the other hand, it brings sunk-cost thinking to a head. If you don't think the thing is worth manufacturing, then why invest time and blood in trying to convince other people?

Also, patents are expensive. Because you'll be footing any bill for asserting it in a court...and in China per the scenario you imagine because a patent only gives you some legal recourse if someone copies the invention. A patent doesn't prevent copying.

So either just build the thing, or move on. Good patent attorneys have better options.

Good luck.