WHAT DO YOU NEED?
Houston Patent Attorney, William Childs
This is the home page of Houston Patent Attorney, William Childs, founder and president of Childs Patent Law, if you would prefer. If your goal is to protect your invention, your reputation, and your profit margins, you have found the right place.
Houston Patent Attorney, William Childs works to help you turn your innovation and creativity into assets your business can own.
William Childs is the Houston Patent Attorney who runs Childs Patent Law. Do not be put off by the fact that I am a HOUSTON Patent Attorney. The title “Houston patent attorney” just means that we are patent attorneys based in Houston, Texas. We can represent clients anywhere in the USA and around the world before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) – all remotely from right here in Houston, Texas.
When protecting your invention matters, don’t just think “patent law,” think Childs Patent Law!
You may have noticed that William Childs describes himself as a Houston Patent Attorney, and not a Houston Intellectual Property Attorney or a Houston Trademark Attorney, or a Houston Trade Secret Attorney.
That’s only because we have to pick one title that is easy remember, so we picked the most exclusive one. To be a “patent attorney,” an attorney must be admitted to at least one state bar and must be admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). To be a Texas patent attorney, an attorney must be admitted to practice in Texas and must be admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), so you can think of William Childs as a Houston Patent Attorney and Texas Patent Attorney.
The fact is that William Childs is a Houston Patent Attorney, a Texas Patent Attorney, a Houston Intellectual Property Attorney, a Houston Trademark Attorney, a Houston Copyright Attorney, and a Houston Trade Secret Attorney.
See what I mean?
It’s just a lot to say and remember.
So, we just stick to Houston Patent Attorney, William Childs to keep things short and simple.
What We Do
William Childs is a Houston Patent Attorney who works to help startups, entrepreneurs, and small-to-medium sized businesses protect their profit margins by patenting their inventions. As a Houston Patent Attorney, we can help big businesses patent their inventions too.
However, we love working with entrepreneurs. Ask us why.
But that’s not all! As a Houston Patent Attorney, William Childs can also help you avoid patent lawsuits when you decide to start selling an innovative product or service. How? We can perform a Freedom-To-Operate search and analysis. We can also draft letters that you can show investors and distributors to help assure them that they will not lose everything in an unnecessary patent lawsuit.
William Childs is also a Houston Trademark Attorney who helps startups, entrepreneurs, and small-to-medium sized businesses protect the reputation of their unique business names, product names, and services names by registering their trademarks and logos with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
As a Houston Trademark Attorney, William Childs can explain that you get a little bit of protection for your business name, product name, or service name just by selling products and services in association with those names. But as a Houston Trademark Attorney, William Childs can help you file a trademark application that can register your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). That registration will help you protect your trademark or logo across the entire United States of America.
How We Do It
We start with a FREE consultation. Because Houston Patent Attorney, William Childs cannot take on everyone as a client. The Texas Bar and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) require that we speak with you before you can become a client. This FREE consultation is a chance for you to tell us what you need help with and to see if we’re a good fit for what you looking to do. It’s also a chance for us, as Houston Patent Attorneys, to ensure your interests do not conflict with those of our existing clients.
Why? Because you deserve a Houston Patent Attorney who has your back. As Houston Patent Attorneys, we believe that you deserve a Patent Attorney you can trust to expertly protect your innovation and reputation.
Also, a Houston Patent Attorney is a fiduciary. That means that as Houston Patent Attorneys, we are required to put your profits above our own. We take great pride in telling clients when they can save money even though it may mean that we make less money. That’s alright. We believe in the power and profit of long-term relationships.
How Are We Different?
Houston Patent Attorney, William Childs has a Ph.D. in chemistry and a J.D. in law. He has been practicing patent law, trademark law, and intellectual property law for over a decade.
So, like many Houston Patent Attorneys, we both know science and patent law. What makes our practice unique is that we work together on drafting patent applications, trademark applications, and licenses and intellectual property contracts.
That may not sound unique because a lot of patent attorneys and patent law firms SAY they have 2 or more patent attorneys review a patent application before filing.
But do they really?
More likely a patent attorney (think junior associate) with one year of experience or less spends 30-40 hours drafting your patent application. Then a partner with more than a decade of experience “reviews” your patent application for few minutes at the end. But how much can they do in just a few minutes or even an hour? Spell check?
Houston Patent Attorney, William Childs founded Childs Patent Law to provide services that are different. Houston Patent Attorney, William Childs often conducts the invention interview. Then discusses your invention with another patent attorney. We then go back and forth at every step of drafting a patent application. We do this to ensure that our clients get the best patent protection that our combined experience of over 20 years can provide.
When protecting it matters, don’t just search for patent law, search for Childs Patent Law.
Why Should You Care?
Are you looking for investors? Do you want to exit big?
When someone invests in your business or buys your business, what are they really getting? They are not buying the people. Most are at-will employees. They are not buying the equipment. They can usually buy that anywhere. They are usually buying intangibles, especially your intellectual property.
Most of the value of a business (over 70%) comes from its patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Don’t believe me?
Where would Coca-Cola be without its trade secret formula for Coca-Cola?
Taylor Swift and every successful singer you can think of built much of their wealth based on trademarks (their name) and copyrights (the songs and recordings).
How much money would you make tomorrow if you opened up a coffee shop with a generic name? How much MORE money would you make if you opened up a coffee shop and used the trademarks and logos of Starbucks? That is the power of branding.
Every pharmaceutical company knows that their profits on a drug will drop like a rock the day their patent expires. Why?
Patents protect profits margins for everything from drugs to cellphones to medical devices.
Got a great idea? No matter how great your idea is, you can only make more money if you can protect your idea. Patents grant you a monopoly over your invention. And monopolies allow you to charge more because people can only get a patented product or service from you.
So, why should you care?
Because there are no second chances in patent law. The difference between exiting with millions of dollars or just exiting and looking for a job is usually the quality of your patents.
Want to attract investors? Want to exit big?
Call Houston Patent Attorney, William Childs at 832-621-0353 to discuss protecting your next great idea.
PATENT LAW BLOG: PERFECTLY PATENTABLE
What Patent Application Filing Strategy Should You Use If You’re Ready To Sell?
Not all entrepreneurs fit the classic startup mold. For example, many innovative businesses have the money they need and plan to sell their invention within 1-6 months. These businesses have little or no interest in obtaining a patent in 3-6 years. This is especially true for businesses that want to be first-in-field to capture market share or are based on rapidly evolving technologies that will be obsolete within 3-6 years, such as computer software. The preferred patent filing strategy here is typically to file a prioritized US non-provisional patent application and to get a US patent as quickly as possible, usually within 3-9 months. These businesses can then use the issued US patent to protect their sales by suing or threatening to sue any competitors that dare to copy their invention. I call this the “short game.” Move fast, grab as much market share as you can, and use your patent to defend your turf. And if you play your cards right, you may not share your market at all. You can use patents to create a legal monopoly. And if you can’t make money with a monopoly, then you can’t make money at all. Are you worried that these…
What Patent Application Filing Strategy Should A Startup or an Entrepreneur Use?
The answer to this question depends on several factors, including if you need outside investment, if you want to protect your invention in just the U.S. or multiple countries, and if your business is ready to start selling. Most startups and entrepreneurs are bound by the same limitations. They need outside investment, they want to protect their invention in multiple countries, and their invention is not ready for commercialization yet due to a lack of resources (money) or needs more development (design). These similar limitations lead to a common filing strategy that I refer to as the “long game.” The inventor starts by filing a U.S. Provisional Application. This step helps the inventor secure their priority date and protects their invention for up to one year while they refine their invention and talk with inventors, experts, manufacturers, and the like under NDAs. At the end of the year, the inventor then files a PCT Application. The PCT Application acts like an international placeholder that allows the innovator to continue raising investments for another 18 months while putting off the costs of international patent applications as long as possible. The PCT Application is also examined and published, which gives the inventor…
What Does “Patent Pending” Mean?
Patent pending is a type of patent status and a legal warning recognized by US Patent Law.
It tells others that you have applied for a US patent. You can legally describe your invention as having “patent pending” status when you have a least one U.S. patent application currently pending before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This statement tells potential investors and business partners that you have taken steps to protect your invention. It warns your competitors that they should think twice before copying your invention because if your patent application issues as a US patent, then you could sue them for patent infringement in the US.