Getting Started
Is Patent Strategy Right for You Now?
Engage us when you have an innovation customers are starting to pay for, and you want patents that protect that revenue. If you’re not there yet, start with advisory time, or come back when you are.
[0001] · Readiness Check
Should You Engage Us Now?
Check what’s true for your company today.
Check the Boxes That Apply
The first three tell us whether patents matter in your market. The last tells us whether you’re validated, which is when drafting makes sense.
Now Is a Good Time to Talk
Patents matter in your market and customers are validating what you built. Send a short note to start.
Start With Advisory Time
Patents matter in your market, but drafting waits for validation. Advisory time keeps your early choices pointed at what you can own.
Patents May Not Be Your Best Spend Yet
You have customers, but nothing yet says patents matter in your market. A short conversation can tell you whether that is likely to change.
[0002]
We Work Only With Innovators
Innovators are companies whose advance changes what customers expect and are willing to pay for. Which one are you?
| You are… | The common blind spot | Where we focus |
|---|---|---|
| Applying existing technology to an unmet customer need | “It’s not new tech, so it’s not patentable.” | The unmet need your solution meets, and why no one solved it before |
| Building new technology to solve an unmet customer need (often deep tech) | Focusing on how novel the tech is and missing what the customer is buying | The customer value your technology creates, not just what’s technically new |
| Making incremental improvements to an existing product | Not a fit | Any competent patent attorney can protect these well. |
[0002] · Selective on Purpose
Our Selectivity Is a Feature, Not a Bug
We take on only the innovators who can benefit from this specific process and expertise. That’s how each client gets the depth a bet-the-company portfolio needs. If you can’t benefit, we won’t take your money, and we’ll tell you so in the first conversation.
[0003]
How to Start
Step 1
Let’s Talk for 30 Minutes
Tell us the customer problem you solve, who is paying or piloting today, and what you’ve filed so far, if anything.
Step 2
Preliminary Engagement
It shows whether we can create value for you, and whether we work well together.
Step 3
Seven Business Questions
Most clients answer them by pointing their own AI tools at their customer and market documents. No technical write-up is needed.
Step 4
Design, Then Draft
Your plan covers what to file now, what to hold, and what it will cost.
Plan on time from your business and technical leads: this is a collaborative process. If you want to hand off the building of your company’s patent portfolio entirely, we’re not the right fit.
[0004]
Who You’d Work With
Jackie Hutter, MS, JD. Chief IP Strategist, The Hutter Group LLC. Registered patent attorney.
Every Seat, 30+ Years
Startup CEO and COO, Senior Patent Counsel at Georgia-Pacific, patent firm partner, IP litigator, R&D scientist
500+ US Patent Applications
Plus European and Japanese oppositions
IAM Top 300 Global IP Strategist
Every year since 2009
Winning with Patents
Host of the YouTube channel and the Winning with Patents (and IP) podcast
[0005]
What’s Different
Most patents protect what you built. Ours are designed to protect what your customers pay for.
Design Before You File
Seven business questions answered together before anything is drafted.
Claim the Solution, Not the Product
Competitors shouldn’t be able to solve your customer’s problem a different way and walk around your patent.
One Platform Filing, a Growing Portfolio
One deep specification seeds future filings as your market moves.
Outcomes, Not Hours
Effort sized to the business result you need, and we hold ourselves to it.