HITC Patent Filing Timeline In 2020
We have 14 patents on our internal docket, 9 with a target filing date of August 31, 2020, and 5 with a target filing date of October 31, 2020. We are filing our patents in groups which we call Phase One and Phase Two in order to prevent establishing prior art which could possibly be used later to contest the patents in court.
Did you know 80% of the value of a software company resides in its patents?
We believe a software company needs to protect their path forward with a proactive patent strategy. if you can’t protect your work, you’re doomed to fail in a competitive market space. We have devised a unique patent strategy which embeds the patenting process right into our C-suite. In this strategy we prioritize the patent placement even before the build, helping to guide our company decision-making process. If we can get a patent on it, we can protect our work, avoid many licensing fees. and avert much expensive litigation later.
PHASE ONE
PHASE TWO
TOTAL PATENTS 2020
How do other companies file patents?
Many patent attorneys, even those in large, very reputable firms take this approach: file a wide patent that is all-encompassing, wait for the examiner to file an office action to tell you what is disallowed, and then reduce the patent scope and iterate until you finally – years later – end up with a patent.
File Wide and Wait
This gets the patent filed quickly, but we would pay for this later in time and dollars.
Examiner Disallows Part of Patent
This incurs a delay in obtaining the patent, and each response adds $2,000 to $4,000 in office action fees and attorney fees.
Reduce Patent Scope and Iterate
Each time we iterate, the patent examiner will look more critically at the patent, searching for additional things wrong with it. In the examiner’s eyes we are miscreants building a rap sheet with each iteration.
How is Our Patent Process Different?
In this competitive healthcare space, a space in which 80% of the value of a software company is held in its patents, we have an advantage: our unique patenting process. With this unique process we prioritize the creation of the patents, and the proof is in the pudding. Within the first 4 months of implementing this process, we already have 14 patents on our internal docket, all of which have a target filing date of October 31, 2020.
Patentability Drives Our Business Decisions
As we discuss our corporate initiatives and design our business and implementation plans, we discuss up-front the patentability and patent potential of each idea based on a competitive patent landscape analysis. This ultimately drives where we can go as a business – if it’s patentable, then we can protect our future efforts and find freedom to operate.
Deep Prior-Art Analysis
In order to ensure the patentability of any idea, it takes expert time and, frankly – determination – to read through thousands of potential prior-art patents. Our chief patent counsel himself puts the work in up-front using deep-search patent analysis software and plenty of time and effort to verify that all parts of an idea are free from prior art, and therefore the entire concept is indeed patentable. This approach minimizes USPTO office actions which would require patent revisions. Office actions not only delay the issuance of the patent and increase the cost, but the real danger of office actions lies in the fact that they are public record, and with each action the patent loses value. This is because a competitor can access the file history and design around the claims. Our “litigation quality patents” therefore minimize the time to obtain a patent, minimize our patent costs, minimizes future costs licensing other patents, time and expense fighting infringement litigation, and most importantly maximizes the future value of the patent.