Our Approach
Why We Visit Every Client’s Facility (And What We Learn When We Do)
Most patent applications are drafted in a conference room. The attorney gets a slide deck, maybe a spec sheet, asks a few Zoom questions, and starts writing. It “works”—the application gets filed—but something important gets lost.
Earlier this year we visited a client manufacturing sanitary pulse valves. On paper, we understood the invention: a novel valve for hygienic processing. Clean, patentable, straightforward.
Then we walked the production floor.
The inventor fired up the valve and showed us how it actually cycled. We began asking questions. Why does it seal that way? How did you solve the cleaning issue? What happens under back-pressure?
The answers revealed several additional patentable features that never appeared in the original disclosure—not because anyone was hiding them, but because the engineers viewed them as routine problem-solving. To us, they were unclaimed innovations walking out the door.
That’s what a site visit does. It turns a static description into a real conversation—one that surfaces the details documents never capture.
What a Facility Visit Actually Reveals
The Gap Between the Paperwork and the Product
Manufacturing teams iterate constantly. The version built on the floor often differs from the drawings—sometimes in ways that matter for claim scope.
The Problems Still Being Solved
Some of our strongest continuation applications began with “we’ve been struggling with…” Patent strategy isn’t just about protecting what exists—it’s about securing space for where you’re headed.
How the Invention Fits Into the Larger System
Claim drafting is about boundaries. Seeing your product installed and integrated gives us clarity about where your innovation ends and the prior art begins. That leads to tighter, more defensible claims.
Who Actually Invented What
Inventorship is a legal requirement. Watching the team interact—who explains what, who credits whom—helps us get inventorship right the first time.
The Real Reason We Do This
BigLaw firms charge upwards of $500/hour. They’re not flying someone to your facility in Ohio to watch your assembly line unless you’re paying a premium for it.
We don’t charge for site visits because we don’t consider them optional extras. They’re simply the most efficient way to capture what actually makes your invention novel. Even an hour on-site avoids days of back-and-forth emails, misunderstandings, and rewrites—and often reveals undisclosed patentable features.
The bottom line: If your patent attorney hasn’t seen your invention firsthand, there’s a good chance your patent isn’t protecting everything it should—and you won’t know it until it’s too late.
Ready for a Different Approach?
We’ll come to you—anywhere in the US—at no extra charge. Let’s see your innovation firsthand.
Schedule a Free Consultation