EXPERT DECLARATION SUPPORT
We help your technical expert put their opinions into a declaration that holds up.
Litigators are trained to try cases. Prior art and prosecution history are a different discipline, and the work takes time a trial team rarely has. We take it off your plate: we find and analyze the art, work through the file history, and help your retained expert turn the analysis into a clear, well-supported declaration, so your team can stay focused on the case. The opinions remain the expert's own.
How we support the expert
Structuring the declaration
Organizing the expert's analysis into the framework courts and the PTAB expect: level of ordinary skill, claim constructions, prior art relied on, and element-by-element analysis.
Prior art mapping
Claim charts and prior art analysis the expert can review, test, and build on.
Obviousness and motivation to combine
Helping the expert articulate why a skilled artisan would or would not combine references, with the record support that makes the reasoning stand up.
Rebuttal declarations
Identifying gaps in the opposing expert's analysis, unsupported claim readings, missing elements, and hindsight reasoning, for your expert to address.
Prosecution history
File history analysis, including complex records with continuations, ex parte reexaminations, or prior IPRs, so the expert and counsel know where estoppel and disclaimer limit the claims.
Deposition preparation
Preparing your expert to defend the declaration line by line, working with counsel on outlines for deposing the opposing expert, and reviewing transcripts for follow-up and rebuttal.
WHY IT MATTERS
A capable expert with a poorly built declaration is easy to cross-examine. Your expert's credibility depends on the work underneath the opinion. We bring 25 years of patent prosecution experience, including more than 1,000 applications drafted and prosecuted, to the prior art and the file history, so the declaration reflects how examiners and the courts read claims and holds up at deposition.
Frequently asked questions
Who signs the declaration?
Your retained technical expert. We support the expert and counsel; the expert reviews, adopts, and testifies to every opinion.
Is the work product protected?
Drafts of expert reports and declarations, and many counsel-expert communications, are generally protected under FRCP 26(b)(4). Counsel should confirm how protection applies in the specific forum.
Do you testify?
No. We work behind the scenes for counsel and the retained expert.
Do you work with experts in mechanical technologies?
Yes, including building products, tools, and consumer goods, as well as medical devices, software, and electronics.
How are engagements billed?
On an hourly basis, scoped in an engagement letter after a conflicts check.