206-858-8468
701 Fifth Avenue Suite 4200
Seattle, WA 98104
Office@IdeasTakeFlight.com
 

Representation Terms

 
 

Mohr Intellectual Property Law Solutions, P.C. (the "Firm") represents clients in intellectual property matters. This Representation Agreement sets forth the general terms of our relationship with clients. Representation terms governing a specific service are generally described in a document specific to that service.

REPRESENTATION TERMS UPDATES

Our representation terms may change at any time.The representation terms in place here on our website when a project is initiated will govern. You can reference our current representation terms here whenever you request additional services from the Firm.

SERVICES

 We would be happy to assist with you with our intellectual property services that you determine best suit your needs. We will create new projects for each intellectual property service you request and will typically send you information and terms specific for those services at that time. The general representation terms listed here at the time funds are deposited for a requested service will govern.

CONFIDENTIALITY

As your attorneys, we will keep all of the matters we discuss in confidence. It is important that you maintain our communications in confidence as well to preserve the attorney-client privilege. The attorney-client privilege may be asserted in court proceedings to restrict our communications from being introduced as evidence, with certain exceptions.

EXPENSES

The Firm will submit invoices to you when a project is close to being completed or on a periodic basis. The invoices will reflect our legal fees for services rendered on your behalf, costs incurred on your behalf, and disbursements made on your behalf. Payments will be applied to outstanding invoices in chronological order.

Absent an approved payment plan, payment for an invoice balance is due within 10 days of the due date specified on the invoice. Payment of the invoice balance is due before applications are filed, letters are sent, or opinions are rendered. It will be your responsibility to pay for costs incurred by the Firm on your behalf, such as government filing fees and third-party service fees.

Flat Fee Services

For services provided on a flat fee basis, the base flat fee for that service includes all anticipated costs for a standard complexity project. Upon request, we can increase the complexity of a project beyond the base flat fee with corresponding fee increases. Most of our current flat fees are posted on our website and information about a flat fee for a given service is available upon request.

Hourly Billing Services

For services provided on an hourly billing basis, the legal fees will depend on the time involved to provide services to you and the billing rate of the attorney providing them. Our time spent on emails and phone calls will be billed for hourly billing projects. Typical hourly billing projects include legal research, counseling, litigation, and contract drafting matters.

Advance Deposit Funds

To begin work on a project, the Firm requires an advance deposit of funds to cover anticipated legal fees and third-party expenses. Advance deposit funds will be held in the Firm’s trust account on your behalf until legal fees are actually earned or until the funds are disbursed to pay for government or third-party fees.

The amount of funds to be deposited in advance depends on the type of project. The advance deposit required may be the full flat fee, one-half of a flat fee, the hourly billing fees estimated to apply in a given month, or an amount indicated in an Advance Payment Invoice. For hourly billing projects, we require maintaining an account credit in the amount of estimated monthly legal fees or $900, whichever is greater, to fund legal services each month.

Personal Guarantee

If this Representation Agreement is executed on behalf of a business entity, you agree to be personally responsible for paying the legal fees incurred by the business entity in the event the business entity fails to pay the legal fees incurred. If other individuals should share personal responsibility for the business entity’s legal fees, please provide the names of the other individuals who shall be personally responsible for paying the business entity’s debt to the firm.

Payment Delinquencies

If invoice payments are not paid on time, it is the Firm´s practice to refrain from performing nonessential services, to require advance payment of all disbursements, and possibly to require advance payment in full for services, depending on the circumstances. For balances that are not paid in full within 30 days of being due, interest will be imposed on and added to the outstanding balance. The interest rate will be 9% per annum and the amount of interest will be calculated from the date payment was due.

ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS

In addition to payments by cash or check, the Firm accepts electronic payments by credit card, PayPal, ACH transfer, and wire transfer. Credit card payments are subject to a 3% processing fee. For payments made via Paypal, we will credit your account with us by the amount we receive from PayPal after PayPal deducts its fees and factors in currency exchange rates. A $35 processing fee applies for ACH and wire transfer payments and we will credit your account by the amount we actually receive in the transaction, which may be less than the amount you instruct your payment service to send.

Earned on Receipt

We are unable to deposit electronic payments into our client trust account, so electronic payments will not be held in the Firm's trust account on your behalf. Instead advance payment funds must be considered "earned upon receipt" and held in the Firm's operating account.

Defining electronic payment funds as "earned on receipt" is necessary for us to comply with ethical requirements directed to advance payments. "Earned on receipt" means that the Firm is considered to have earned electronic payment funds when issued even though it has not yet provided legal services associated with the funds. However, the Firm agrees to refund electronic payment funds as described below if legal services are not provided.

Electronic Payment Refunds

If you elect to cancel services associated with electronic payments funds, the Firm agrees to issue you a refund as follows:

   Amount of the electronic payment funds received by the Firm.
MinusThe processing fee associated with the electronic payment funds
MinusThe value of services already rendered at the time you cancel the requested services.
EqualsAmount of the electronic payment funds the Firm agrees to refund to you.

   

TEAM

To efficiently and cost-effectively provide you with legal services, different attorneys or agents may take part in providing you with intellectual property services. The Firm utilizes associate attorneys and patent agents as well contract attorneys (collectively, Project Attorneys) to complete projects for clients.

ROLES

The Firm assigns different roles to its team members to help serve clients efficiently and cost effectively. The main roles are Client Manager, Project Attorney, and Principal Attorney.

Client Manager
Your primary contact at the Firm will be your Client Manager. Your Client Manager will be the person most available for questions, answers, and updates for your projects. Your Client Manager will coordinate with you and the Project Attorney assigned to your project to answer questions and to help complete your project.

Project Attorney
The primary role for the Firm’s Project Attorneys is to provide you with legal services. Your Project Attorney will also assist your Client Manager to provide you with answers to legal questions.

Principal Attorney
The primary roles for the Firm’s Principal Attorney, Joseph Mohr, are to oversee projects, to manage operations at the Firm, and to be a general resource for clients. The Principal Attorney assigns projects to Project Attorneys based on technical expertise, availability, and logistical considerations among other factors.

CLIENT FILES

We are a paperless office and maintain client files exclusively in electronic format on onsite computers and in offsite (cloud) backup computers. Upon request, absent a valid attorney lien, we can provide you with your file in electronic format. If you would like to create a paper copy of your file, you will be responsible for printing and shipping the files at your own expense. In the event that you have a past due account with us, we reserve the right to place an attorney lien on your client file, i.e., hold the file until the attorney lien is discharged.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RENEWALS

 Patents, trademarks, and copyrights in many cases must be renewed on a periodic basis to keep them enforceable. From an international standpoint, many countries require annual annuity payments to keep applications pending. In the United States, renewal fees generally apply when intellectual property rights have been issued rather than while applications for intellectual property rights are pending.

The Firm will seek to notify you of applicable deadlines and fees related to renewals and annuities, but the ultimate responsibility for maintaining your intellectual property will rest with you. For example, the Firm can not be responsible if intellectual property lapses because we were not aware that your contact information changed or because you did not provide payment for the fees when they were due.

COMMUNICATION

Our primary means of communicating with you will be by email. Traditional mail will be used only when necessary because it is slower and less efficient. On occasion, we may use our cell phones to speak with you if we are away from our desk.

We will send you documents and files, including notices of upcoming deadlines, exclusively to the email addresses you provide to us. It is very important that you let us know if you are no longer using the email address or phone number we have on file for you. Otherwise, you may not receive our communications and your intellectual property rights may be forfeited. 

TERMINATION

Either you or the Firm may terminate a relationship formed according to this Agreement for any reason or for no reason. The Firm agrees, however, to withdraw from representing you at your request. In turn, you agree to pay any liabilities incurred by the Firm on your behalf prior to termination. In the unlikely event that the Firm withdraws from representing you, we will give you sufficient notice so that you can retain substitute counsel.

EXECUTION & ACCEPTANCE

This Representation Agreement will execute when you deposit funds for legal services with the Firm, which will confirm your acceptance of the representation terms described here. There is no need to sign or return a copy of the Representation Agreement.

 
 

Effective Date: 02/26/2018

Printed: 3/28/2024