Rethink(IP)

Posted by Stephen M. Nipper

On my way to pick my daughter up from school I followed a beautiful, clean, white GMC Yukon with a "For Sale" sign in the rear window. What caught my eye was the license plate: PSYCHO.

Thoughts flashed through my head. Psycho...psycho...psycho. I imagined what it would be like buying the Yukon. How often would I wonder "what did Psycho do in HERE?," "where did he take this car?," "what is THAT stain in the back???" Just seeing that license plate has forever tainted my mental impression of that vehicle, and perhaps white Yukons in general. It's a mental image I cannot remove.

How often do IP attorneys do the same thing?

Think about it. What is the mental image your clients get when then think of you and your firm? Do they see you as: cutting edge or old fashioned? A talker or a listener? An expert or a trusted advisor? Worried about billables or worried about helping your client succeed?

You have an image, I have an image, Psycho has an image.

I've got good news. An image doesn't reflect who you are, it reflects what other people think you are...and that is something you can change. It takes work...but you can change it. It's time to change your plates.

Click here to view a printer-friendly display of Psycho's Yukon (opens a new browser window for printing)

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Steve -- great post. I think most attorneys worry about the image they present when courting new clients, but don't worry enough about the image they create as the relationship matures.

On a side note, would you rather have the image of an embedded patent attorney or a bill-the-daylights-out-of-a-matter-and-get-out attorney? I know where we stand.