This is where I am coming from. A company is knocking at my
firm's virtual door, asking for "your best price of a
patent". That innocent question triggers several alerts.
We certainly want to help our future clients and this is why we
qualify them before we onboard them. Part of the qualification step
is to determine whether the enquirers already are or at least are
willing to become a so-called "informed client".
This is because there are often problems that cannot be solved
with a "Silver Bullet", which is a quick standard
solution. We have a number of standard solutions for typical
problems in the patent area available in my firm but often, these
standard solutions need to be tailored in order to provide value to
the client. That is why some minimum understanding of patent law is
required on the client's side. Without such a minimum
understanding, client relationships can quickly turn difficult.
