How can Robert Plotkin, P.C., maximize my company's return on investment in its patent portfolio?

Our firm’s high level of expertise in creating, managing, maintaining, and enforcing international patent portfolios enables us to provide all of these services in a way which is guided by your company’s strategic goals. As a result, we are able to obtain patents that have the highest value to your company, and obtain such patents efficiently. According to our client Steven K. Gold, M.D., a serial entrepreneur and Professor of Entrepreneurship Practice at Babson College, Robert Plotkin, P.C., “…has assisted my companies in securing valuable patents that have been licensed to more than a dozen major corporations, and [attorney] Robert [Plotkin] continues to actively represent me on various strategic projects. With Robert, you can expect that your work product will meet the highest standards, get done on time, and at a reasonable cost. I can also attest to the fact that Robert is a pleasure to work with.” According to Dr. Gold, “When it comes to intellectual property strategy and patent prosecution for computer-related technologies, Robert is the best of the best.” See client successes for more testimonials.

Our internal use of technology and a virtual organization enables us to provide the full service of leading law firms without the associated overhead expense or inefficiencies associated with the typical law firm hierarchy.

The ability to retain best-in-class service providers on behalf of our clients for patent searching, valuation, maintenance, and other critical functions.

Why do you emphasize the portfolio aspect of patent protection? Isn't one patent per product sufficient?

You need to patent each component of a product separately to ensure protection against infringement from competitors who sell only individual components, but not the entire product. This is especially true for software, which often can be used in connection with a wide variety of other software and hardware. Only through this comprehensive portfolio-based approach can you ensure that your patents protect your company’s technology, both today and into the future. Furthermore, from a defensive perspective, a broad portfolio can help protect you against potential lawsuits from competitors.

What is the value to me of working with Robert Plotkin, P.C., rather than another patent attorney who obtains software patents?

Attorney Robert Plotkin, the firm’s founder, is recognized as a leading computer patent attorney in the U.S. He has a degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a law degree from the Boston University School of Law. He worked at two leading patent law firms in Boston before founding Robert Plotkin, P.C., which has been recognized as a “Go-To Law Firm for Leading Technology Companies” by American Lawyer Media.

He has approximately two decades of experience as a practicing patent lawyer representing clients worldwide, with an emphasis on patents for software and other computer technology. He has obtained hundreds of patents for clients including HP, 3Com, Compuware, Plant Health Care, Tata Consultancy Services, and M*Modal. He has created software patent portfolios, which served as valuable assets in the acquisition of his clients by publicly-traded companies.

He has also obtained software patents which have been used in litigation to obtain valuable positive outcomes for his clients. He is a faculty member of the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference; has taught multiple courses at the Practising Law Institute (PLI); and was a lecturer for six years at the Boston University School of Law, where he designed and taught an advanced course in “Software and the Law.”

One of our clients, Dr. Niti Dewan, Head of Patents and Business Development for R.K. Dewan & Co., states that, “As a leading intellectual property law firm in India, we require high-quality, responsive, and efficient legal services for our clients throughout the world. We turn to Robert Plotkin, P.C., to obtain patents on software and other computer-related technology in the United States for our clients and we have found the firm to be extremely effective at obtaining such patents, despite the complexity of the technology being patented and the rapidly-changing law governing patent protection for computer technology.”

My company already has a patent portfolio. How can I be confident that this portfolio protects the business?

Our firm can perform a patent gap analysis for new clients who have existing patent portfolios, in order to uncover any flaws in the portfolio and fix them before it is too late. The purpose of a patent gap analysis is to seek out and repair any lack of intellectual property protection that could hurt your business if left unattended.

My company already has an outside patent firm. Why should we switch to Robert Plotkin, P.C.?

Your existing patent portfolio may have holes and inaccuracies, which leave you susceptible to infringement by your competitors. This can create significant gaps in the legal protection that your patent portfolio provides, some of which may be difficult or impossible to fill. If your patent portfolio has such gaps, it is critical for you to address them quickly, both to avoid missing legal deadlines and so that your competitors will not have time to take advantage of any weaknesses in your portfolio.

Our firm provides expertise in growing patent portfolios based on our clients’ business goals, particularly for software and computer technologies, thereby ensuring each patent in the portfolio is crafted to maximize business value and to clearly and accurately reflect the patented technology so that each patent is as strong and defensible as possible.

When one of our clients, Vincon Research Enterprises & Affiliates, was having difficulties with a particular patent, they engaged Robert Plotkin, P.C., who, “…obtained patents for several of my companies over the years on a variety of biomedical inventions. We first turned to the firm to rescue a patent application that had been filed by another firm and which was struggling at the Patent Office,” according to Vincent Giuliano, M.D., CEO.

We have a growing patent portfolio but are not yet large enough to have an in-house patent department. Can you help us manage this portfolio?

Robert Plotkin, P.C., regularly provides the same services to its clients as an in-house patent department. Our clients benefit from the strategic emphasis on our patenting process, which aligns patent protection with business goals, while avoiding the overhead associated with traditional in-house legal departments.

Can Robert Plotkin, P.C., manage my company's international patent portfolio?

Robert Plotkin, P.C., specializes in creating and nurturing patent portfolios worldwide through its direct service in the U.S. and its select network of leading international patent firms. Our maintenance fee (annuity) management program ensures that our clients’ patents do not expire prematurely.

How will Robert Plotkin, P.C., minimize the amount of time that my staff and I will need to spend being involved in the patenting process?

Because of our deep expertise in law and technology, your inventors only need to educate us about the specifics of your inventions. We do the rest. We have found that an extensive strategic patent plan (a patent roadmap) can typically be developed with only a few hours of a client’s time, and that individual patent applications can be prepared with only a few hours of the inventors’ time.

Why should I work with a software patent attorney rather than a generalist patent attorney?

Just as you would not want a general practice doctor performing heart surgery, it is not advisable to have a generalist patent attorney prepare software patent applications. The complexity of software, the ability to implement software in a wide variety of ways (such as a standalone product or a component of a larger system), and the rapidly-evolving nature of computer technology necessitate the use of a patent attorney with expert knowledge of both computer technology and patent law to avoid creating patents which are obsolete by the time they are granted, and therefore fail to protect either your company’s technology or cover your competitor’s products and services.

Our firm is often called on to take over responsibility for software patent applications and to salvage them to the extent possible. We worked closely with a large global software company and they, “…recommend Robert Plotkin, P.C., to any company needing a patent law firm with expertise in software patents.”

Due to the limited steps that can be taken to fix problems in a patent application after it has been filed, we recommend retaining an expert in software patents to write software patent applications from the outset, and thereby avoid encountering potentially irreversible problems later.

My company already has an extensive portfolio of U.S. patents. Does this protect the business against competitors worldwide?

A patent is only enforceable in a single country, so if you and your competitors conduct business worldwide, you need to obtain patent protection worldwide. Otherwise, competitors will be able to sell copies of your products in foreign countries even if you have an array of patents on those products in the U.S. alone.

Do my company's existing patents protect my company against being sued for patent infringement by our competitors?

Obtaining patents on your products does not automatically shield you from being sued for patent infringement by your competitors for selling those products. Your company’s patents only enable your company to stop competitors from selling competing products. They do not give your company the right to sell those products. To determine whether your company can sell its products without running an unreasonable risk of being sued by competitors for patent infringement, you must perform clearance investigations and take other proactive defensive measures.

We are a law firm outside the U.S. Can Robert Plotkin, P.C., file patent applications for our clients in the U.S.?

Yes. We act as a U.S. patent agent for leading patent firms and corporations worldwide. We are experienced in all types of U.S. patent filings, such as Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) National Stage filings, PCT bypass continuation filings, Paris Convention filings, and original U.S. patent filings. We understand that you and your clients require prompt attention and fast responses to your instructions and inquiries. We would be glad to serve as your U.S. patent agent.

One of our clients, Dr. Niti Dewan, Head of Patents and Business Development for R.K. Dewan & Co., states that, “We can recommend Robert Plotkin, P.C. for any law firm or company seeking a U.S. law firm specializing in patent protection for computer technology.”

We are a law firm that is litigating a software patent lawsuit in the U.S. How can Robert Plotkin, P.C., assist us?

Our firm specializes in assisting litigation firms in litigating patent infringement cases, particularly those involving software patents. We do not litigate directly or represent clients in other fields of law. As a result, when we work with you, we will bring all of our focused expertise to bear on your case without competing with you or stealing the limelight. This includes retaining qualified subject-matter experts to provide expert reports and testimony. Our goal is to make you shine for your client by helping you succeed. For more information, see If you are a patent litigation firm.

We are a patent commercialization company that is in need of qualified patent counsel to obtain additional patents to expand our patent portfolios. How can Robert Plotkin, P.C., assist us?

We have significant experience working with leading patent commercialization companies to expand on, extend the coverage of, and strengthen the validity of existing patent portfolios; maximize the return on investment in patent portfolios, efficiently and with minimal risk; review and evaluate patent portfolios for potential acquisition; and protect those portfolios defensively against attacks in litigation and the Patent Office.

We would be glad to strengthen your existing patent portfolios to maximize their value. For more information, see If you are a patent commercialization company. One of our clients, Steven K. Gold, M.D., states that, ” Robert has assisted my companies in securing valuable patents that have been licensed to more than a dozen major corporations, and Robert continues to actively represent me on various strategic projects.”

My company would like to file a patent application for one of our products. Can your firm do this?

Robert Plotkin, P.C., does not recommend applying for a single patent for each product on an ad-hoc basis. We use a unique process to strategically develop a portfolio of patents for each product line to maximize business value.

We would like to file a quick and dirty provisional patent application for one of our products and then fill in the details later. Can your firm do this?

We do offer expedited services, but we do not offer reduced-quality services because patent applications which lack critical information at the time of filing often cannot be fixed later. Therefore, although we can file provisional patent applications quickly when necessary, doing so incurs additional fees. Such applications meet all of our quality standards. In the absence of a true emergency, we recommend using our unique patenting process to strategically develop a portfolio of patents for each product line to maximize business value, rather than filing individual patent applications quickly and without a strategic plan.

Contact a Patent Lawyer in Massachusetts

If your company develops innovative products and services, particularly in the software and Internet industries, you can rely on Robert Plotkin, P.C., to successfully manage all of your patent portfolio needs. Contact us today for an initial meeting and evaluation of your patent portfolio by clicking here