Q: I am looking for a patent attorney to research and file a design patent.
What's a good strategy to find and pick the right attorney for me among hundreds if not thousands of attorneys in LA?
A:
First, you are lucky as there are far fewer patent attorneys than attorneys as a patent attorney needs two different things, a bar license from a state and a patent registration from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. But, you can pick a patent attorney from anywhere in the country. You may want to ask your trusted general business attorney for a recommendation. Most of my new clients come from a referral from their attorney.
Another way to attack this is to look at some recently issued design patents to see examples of work that seems to be done well. You cannot pick someone that is already working for a company making the same sort of product as your product as that would be a conflict. But someone who has done work with kitchen products may be able to help you with a different kitchen product.
Here is a search that will limit results to design patents. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&f=S&l=50&d=PTXT&RS=APT%2F4&Refine=Refine+Search&Query=APT%2F4
I am assuming that you truly mean the special type of patent that is a design patent instead of the more common utility patent. These pages on my web site go over the two types.
https://www.flynniplaw.com/services/legal-services/united-states-design-patents
https://www.flynniplaw.com/services/legal-services/united-states-utility-patents
I hope that this helps.
Kevin E Flynn
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