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Schell IP helps buyers, sellers, founders, and investors frame patent questions in a proposed transaction. Patent diligence connects the listed assets with the products, ownership records, and commercial assumptions that matter to the deal.
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A schedule of patent numbers is a starting point. A useful review asks what the relevant claims cover, who owns the rights, what obligations affect them, and whether the portfolio supports the product story being presented. The scope should match the transaction and the decision the client needs to make.
Patent review can involve application status, prosecution history, assignments, licenses, maintenance obligations, and the relationship between claims and products. Potential gaps should be identified early enough for the transaction team to assess their significance.
For a seller, organizing these records before diligence can make questions easier to answer. For a buyer, separating confirmed facts from assumptions helps focus follow-up requests. Where broader transaction work is needed, the engagement can be coordinated through the relevant Whiteford team.
No. A patent confers exclusionary rights. Third-party patents and other legal requirements can still affect commercialization.
Only in context. Claim scope, ownership, remaining term, status, and commercial relevance matter to the analysis.
Before the transaction timetable becomes urgent. A current asset list and supporting ownership and license records are a useful foundation.
Book a Free Consultation to discuss the transaction stage and proposed patent-review scope.
For transactions involving a product business, patent and intellectual property diligence can be coordinated with Whiteford’s corporate and M&A counsel. Jeff Schell works alongside colleagues Eric Vendt and Clare Lewis to connect those legal workstreams.
Eric A. Vendt is a Whiteford partner who advises emerging growth and middle-market businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs on mergers and acquisitions, financing, corporate governance, and business succession. His practice brings together transaction planning, tax considerations, and commercial agreements.
Clare M. Lewis is a Whiteford partner who represents independent sponsors, private equity and venture capital investors, and emerging growth and middle-market companies. Her work includes mergers and acquisitions, equity financing, corporate governance, and fund formation, with experience advising buyers, sellers, investors, and lenders.
Jeff Schell is a patent lawyer and entrepreneur who helps buyers, sellers, and investors evaluating product portfolios obtain and defend patent rights for their product portfolios. He connects patent strategy with product development, commercialization, and business priorities.
Jeff is the founder of Schell IP, which is part of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, LLP.
Please share only a general description and your timing. Do not submit confidential invention details through this website. A consultation request does not by itself establish an attorney-client relationship.
Learn how the entrepreneurial experience and legal expertise of patent lawyer Jeff Schell provides highly unique advantages for our clients.
