Not every gap in a patent operation calls for a new hire. Sometimes you need coverage through a transition, depth in a technology your team doesn't cover, or an experienced practitioner embedded for a stretch of heavy work.
Fractional Patent Counsel provides senior, USPTO-registered patent support to in-house departments and firms, structured to work alongside your team and your existing outside counsel, not to replace either.
A leave, a departure, or a stretch between hires doesn't pause the docket. Fractional counsel keeps a portfolio moving, holding deadlines, continuing prosecution, and maintaining strategy, so nothing lapses during the gap.
A strong team can still meet a matter outside its core: an AI/ML or software invention on a team built for other arts. Bringing in specialist coverage for those matters is faster and more efficient than over-hiring or upskilling under deadline.
Portfolio building is an operation: harvesting cadence, a consistent evaluation rubric, docket hygiene, continuation timing, and budget discipline. Fractional support can help design or run that process, or strengthen the one you have.
A senior patent attorney embedded with your team for a defined period, drafting, clearing backlog, supporting a filing push, and working directly with your practitioners, scoped to the engagement and concluded when it's done.
In-house patent teams and IP managers needing continuity, specialist depth, or operational support. IP-holding operating companies running an active portfolio. And firms needing temporary senior bench strength for a surge or a specialized matter.
Engagements are scoped and priced to the specific need, whether that's a defined secondment, ongoing specialist coverage, or portfolio-operations support, and set out in a clear engagement letter before work begins.
A short call to understand the need, the timing, and the fit. We'll tell you honestly whether a fractional arrangement is the right tool, or whether your existing team or firms are better placed.
counsel@fractionalpatentcounsel.com