The key to developing a strong patent application? Understanding an invention from the inside out. Our secret weapon to truly understanding a new invention? Complimentary in-person client input meetings.

Over the years, we’ve learned that meeting with clients in-person — versus learning about a new invention over the phone — results in the strongest patent applications. Here’s why:

1. We create “whiteboard moments” to craft stronger applications

Meeting in-person allows our team to understand an invention thoroughly. These sessions usually result in the inventor at a whiteboard teaching us about the intricacies of their technology instead of trying to explain them over the phone.

We ask probing questions that make inventors consider factors they may have left out of the disclosure, questions that push them to use pictures instead of just words. By getting them to think about their invention from different perspectives, we help inventors discover new ways a competitor could potentially design around their patent — leading to a stronger application.

In one case, our in-person meeting with a Silicon Valley-based semiconductor company led the inventor to realize an alternate method of designing the technology he had developed.

2. It saves the client time (and money)

We don’t charge clients for our travel to initial development meetings — we view it as a worthwhile investment that benefits us both. These meetings typically last about an hour, but they can save up to four hours in the drafting process. By getting a better understanding of the invention, these meetings reduce the number of rewrites and the amount of back-and-forth to finalize an application.

3. Meeting face-to-face builds trust and motivation

An in-person meeting shows clients that we’re invested in their success and that their invention matters. This personal touch creates a connection with inventors: Placing a face to a name helps them be more responsive and motivates our attorneys to be that much more invested in the person behind the technology.

Leaders at that Silicon Valley semiconductor company said we were the first attorneys to ever come meet them in-person — not even their outside counsel based in their own city.

Our commitment to in-person meetings isn’t just something that sets us apart from other IP law firms across the country, it’s infused in our culture of providing the best work product as efficiently as possible.