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[7pic]

Hi everyone,

I'm a patent agent, working at a firm and I'm currently thinking my career change.
I'm interested in the company below, which provides patent search, analysis, etc.

Cardinal Intellectual Property
http://www.cardinal-ip.com/index.html

The employees can work remotely from home and they are paid on a piecework basis.
I can't be sure if they are a nice company.  I hope they are not fraudulent at least.
Does anyone hear about them?  Is anyone working for them?  Is it a good job?  pros and cons?
Any comments about this company would be helpful.

Thanks a lot in advance!

[Wiscagent]

7pic -

Cardinal Intellectual Property is "not fraudulent."  It is a bona fide patent search firm associated with a law firm.  Check your messages, I sent you a note.

[tencelos]

Could someone please enlighten me, what would a "fraudulent" placement firm be - what do they do that is fraudulent?

any known ones?

[saintlos]

Curiously, I was contacted by Cardinal IP last week and, too, am trying to get some more insight on them... Wiscagent, it looks like you know something
I would greatly appreciate it!

[Extra Medium]

Does anyone know Cardinal's salary structure - how much they pay an agent or registered attorney and what kind of longer-term raises and benefits one can expect?

[Wiscagent]

Extra Medium, I suggest that you contact Cardinal IP directly and ask them.

[nonewmatter]

Hey 7pic-

How about an update? Did you Pursue the Cardinal IP thing? Did anyone else? I'm becoming interested myself, as I'm a bit fed up with firm life and am looking for more flexibility and better work/life balance. I did contact Cardinal, they emailed me saying that they are reviewing my resume and will get back to me soon. Just interested in knowing if this is something worthwhile to pursue, and in particular what kind of money one could expect to make (I know they claim the average is around $82k/year, wondering if this is accurate).

Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[BotchedExperiment]

I use Cardinal IP very often.  They're the real deal, and I think they're among the best search firms.

I have no idea about how they are as an employer.

[max5000]

You make $300.00 per case - some take as little as four hours (rare) and others can take several days.  Your ultimate goal is to do one per day, but that won't come until after maybe about a year of working for them.  For me it requires many long days and weekends to finish seven in a two week period - which they consider full-time.

But.....you do get to work from home!!

[freepatentbar]

Agreed.  Cardninal is real. 

[chroniclychrissy]

How much experience is required to work for Cardinal?  $300x7cases=$2100/biweek=$54,600/year.  That seems a little underpaid, did I not totally understand the pay structure?  I would like to work from home too, are there any other firms like cardinal that outsource work to employees that work from home?

[trustme]

I agree with Max5000, somewhat, and I think your earnings calculation is fairly close, ChronicalyChrissy.

It is difficult to do more than 3-4 searches in a week, and that includes working at least one weekend day. Maybe some folks get easier searches, but as time has gone on, I've noticed that the searches have gotten more difficult. I do not want to get into more specifics of the pay structure for fear of outing myself.

So if you've got a technical degree, it's kind of hard to justify working there full-time. The starting salary for a lot of engineers is > $60K/year, and that's a 40-hour week.

If you're in law school it's a good "first experience" line to have on your resume, but it's not like working at the PTO, not at all.

It also is a good temporary gig for under-employed or unemployable patent attorneys, but it is frankly difficult to make a decent living at it. The skills you learn as a searcher aren't really that valuable, except maybe to the PTO or to some other search firm.

[John Foster]

I use Cardinal Intellectual Property for my searches.  Of all the firms I have used, they do provide an all around better service and result.  I've met a couple of their folks at the AIPLA and they seem on the ball with what's happening in the industry. One major point I like about them is that they are a U.S. search firm.  I have had sensitive work that the reassurance of not having to think about ITAR violations is great peace of mind.  I'm not sure about their internal pay structure or their employment opportunities, but the individuals I have met, a few researches, project managers and account representatives all talked highly of Cardinal.