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Patent and trademark counsel for product companiesSearch first. Then file what's worth it.

Spurwheel handles patents, trademarks, clearance and disputes for companies that make things. We start with a search, so you only pay to file what can hold up.

Request a quote How we can help
  • Written quote in two business days
  • Evening appointments
10 Patents 20 Trademarks 30 Clearance 40 Disputes

Practice

Four kinds of work that turn on one another: what you file, what you name, what you check before launch, and what you do when someone crosses the line.

10

Patents

The search comes before the draft, so you know the odds and the cost before you commit to an application.

Utility or design, provisional or full: we pick the route that suits where the product is today, prepare the drawings, the description and the claims, and stay with the application through every letter from the examiner.

We also prepare the assignment that moves the invention from the people who made it to the company that sells it.

  • Provisional first filings
  • Design patents
  • Patent landscapes
  • Examiner interviews
  • Assignments
20

Trademarks

A name people remember is worth registering before someone else gets there first.

Every trademark matter runs in three stages, and you can start at any one of them.

  1. ClearSearch the register and the market before you commit to the name.
  2. FileApply in the classes you actually sell in, and answer the examiner.
  3. WatchSpot look-alikes early and keep the renewal dates on our calendar.
30

Clearance

Before you order inventory or print ten thousand boxes, find out what's in the way.

A freedom-to-operate search reads the live patents in the markets you plan to sell in and shows which ones your product might touch. When one does, we weigh a design change, a license or a challenge, and tell you what each would cost.

  • A written report sorted by risk, not a stack of printouts
  • Design-around notes your engineers can work from
  • A second look before each major release

Read a sample report

40

Disputes

When someone copies you, or says you copied them, the first letter sets the tone.

We write and answer demand letters, file and defend trademark oppositions, and get copies pulled from online marketplaces. If a matter has to go to court, we bring in trial counsel and stay on the file with them.

  • Demand letters
  • Trademark oppositions
  • Marketplace takedowns
  • Royalty audits

Not sure which of these fits? Bring the product to the first conversation and we'll sort it out.

Start a conversation

Reading a clearance report

A clearance search ends in a short report: the live patents and marks closest to your product, how close each one comes, and what to do about it.

Here is one for an invented product, with a note under each finding.

Findings

  1. Product: a clip-on bicycle light that charges from the turning wheel.Every report starts with what the product does, in one sentence.
  2. A. A generator built into a bicycle hubLowIts claims need the generator inside the hub. Yours clips to the frame.
  3. B. A lamp charged by a roller against the rimCloseSame job, done a similar way. A change to how your roller meets the wheel keeps you clear.
  4. C. A registered mark for bike lights, one letter off your nameConflictToo close to the name on your box. Choose another before the print run.

An invented report for an invented product, for illustration.

Two searches, two questions

One asks whether you can get a patent. The other asks whether you can sell the product at all.

PatentabilityCan we get one?

Reads earlier patents and publications to see whether your idea is new enough to claim. What it finds shapes the draft.

Freedom to operateCan we sell it?

Reads live patents in the markets you sell in to see whether someone else's claims reach your product.

We'll tell you on the first call which one to run first, and what each costs.

Ask about your product

What working with us looks like

The cheapest filing is the one a search tells you to skip.

01

A written quote first

After the first call you get a scope and a price in writing within two business days. If the work changes, the quote changes before the invoice does.

02

Search before drafting

Most matters start with a search. It costs a fraction of a filing and often changes what we file.

03

Drafts you can mark up

Every draft comes with notes in plain language, and nothing is filed until you've signed off on it.

04

Evening appointments

Tuesdays and Thursdays until seven, at the office or by phone, for clients who can't get away during the day.

A sharpened pencil resting on a technical drawing
hello@example.com

The people on your fileAttorneys and patent agents

Each matter has a lead attorney and a patent agent who drafts alongside them. You'll have both of their email addresses in the first week, and they stay on the file until it's done.

We read the product before we write about it: the prototype, the source code, the competitor's listing that worries you.

Fields we see most:

  • Consumer products
  • Software
  • Medical devices
  • Industrial equipment
Quotes
In writing, two business days after the first call.
Hours
Weekdays, with evening appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Where
100 Main Street, Anytown, by appointment.
What to bring
Whatever shows how it works: sketches, photos, a working model.

Questions

Getting started

What happens after the first call?

Four stages, with rough timing for a typical patent matter:

  1. First callAbout 30 minutes
  2. Search reportAbout two weeks
  3. Draft reviewTwo to four weeks
  4. FilingThe day you approve the draft

Trademark matters move faster. Examination takes months either way, and we'll tell you where the queue stands when you file.

Which kind of protection does my product need?

Usually more than one. How it works may be patentable, the name on the box is a trademark, and the manual, code and photos are covered by copyright from the start. On the first call we'll say which to pay for now and which can wait.

Does showing my product at a trade show affect a patent?

It can. The United States gives inventors a one-year grace period after their own public disclosure, but many other countries give none. If a show is coming up, talk to us before it: a provisional filed the week before keeps your options open.

Can I file for a trademark before the product launches?

Yes. In the United States an intent-to-use application holds the name before the first sale, and the registration issues once you're selling under it. It's the usual route when the packaging is still being designed.

Notes

All notes

Tell us what you're launching. We'll say what to file and what to skip.

Write a few lines about it, or call. You'll have a written quote within two business days of our first conversation.

Request a quote Call (404) 555-0158
Address
100 Main Street
Anytown

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