Patent Prosecution

Patents are perhaps the most tangible and enforceable types of intellectual property, and a well-written patent is essential to any business with an idea. It can be a starting point for licensing negotiations, a barrier to entry for competitors or a ticket into court. Baker Botts’ patent lawyers have extensive training and experience drafting, developing, asserting and defending patents. We prosecute and defend patents for companies of all sizes as well as individual inventors, academicians and universities.

During the patent process, our lawyers develop close working relationships with the innovators at your company. Through this collaboration, we explore the potential applications of the new technology or idea. The process also reveals the technological and financial ramifications of the patents, not only to your company but also to the industry as a whole. We emphasize claim construction with the goal of providing the broadest protection possible under federal law.

The diverse technical backgrounds of our Intellectual Property lawyers are extremely beneficial during patent prosecution. Our lawyers communicate well with scientists, programmers and engineers simply because most of our Intellectual Property lawyers have similar backgrounds. Whether you are patenting mechanical devices, medical products, computer software, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals or ideas in numerous other fields, we are likely to have a lawyer who has written such a patent.

Baker Botts will be with you every step of the way in the development and commercialization of technological innovations. We make sure that individual inventors, universities and companies are able to protect and profit from their significant investment in time and money.

Foreign Practice:
Our Intellectual Property lawyers understand that the procurement and protection of IP in major world markets is of paramount importance to a technology company’s longevity and prosperity in today’s global marketplace. Our domestic multinational IP clients face the same fierce competitors at home and in Europe. In response to this marketplace reality, our firm, in addition to offering traditional domestic patent services, can protect your ideas and patents worldwide. We have a reliable network of foreign associates, who can ensure that ideas are patented and protected throughout the world. We have retained and established good working relationships with several different firms worldwide to handle matters locally, all the while continuing to provide substantial input on strategies and decisions. With these resources, we have filed and prosecuted thousands of foreign patents with efficiency for our clients.