Vince Egolf, Founder

Industry: IP Legal Services, IP Strategy Development, IP Searching
Headquarters: Grand Rapids (MI), USA
Employees: 1

The problem

Minesoft's client, Egolf IP Law PLC, used free patent search tools previously. This required them to use multiple websites depending on the country coverage required, to locate patent data. It was concerning that they may not have captured all the relevant information, even after time-consuming searches on multiple sites.

The solution

Having switched to PatBase, our client was able to access everything in one place and rely on the patent search results for strategic decision making. Even simple searches were generating comprehensive results every time.

Developing a comprehensive search with all data sources in one place

Egolf IP Law, PLC supports businesses with their IP needs and helps to identify innovative business opportunities.  Their approach to private practice is to leverage best in class tools and cost-efficient in-house practices to provide “Quality, Affordable Intellectual Property Solutions.” The firm is managed by Vince Egolf, Esq.  Previously, Vince was Director of Intellectual Property at BISSELL Homecare Inc. as well as in-house counsel at Mars Wrigley, Perrigo Pharmaceuticals, Accenture and Verizon.

Vince primarily uses search firms but also runs his own patent searches. The search firm that he normally uses conducts its searches in PatBase. With access to PatBase, Vince can easily review the search strings as a teaching tool, conduct his own searches and verify their results, when needed. He explained that although there is a temptation in private practice to outsource patent searching, it is useful to be able to track results and carry out benchmarking. Having access to PatBase enables this additional leverage.

The client often works with large result sets. Using PatBase folders is an ideal way to keep all the documents safely in one place, so that they can be returned to at a later stage of the project. For example, when working on a portfolio review, there are specific fields he would need to include. Vince also finds the ability to share live links with his clients useful, so they can view areas like Family Explorer, view the PDF or even see the legal status information for a family of interest.

Vince frequently uses PatBase for patentability, landscape and FTO searches. He likes the fact that he is able to immediately run a simple search with a client on a video call, adding a lot of up-front value and helping his client’s business get a better invention disclosure, leading to better protected inventions.