Foundation Patents, L.L.P.

About Foundation Patents, L.L.P.

Foundation Patents, L.L.P. is a Walnut Creek, California intellectual property practice led by Richard Bennett Salles, a USPTO-registered patent attorney. The firm concentrates on patent and trademark prosecution, taking inventions and brands from initial search through filing and examination before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Its patent work spans provisional and non-provisional utility applications, design patents, and PCT international filings through the U.S. Receiving Office, with associated documents such as specifications, claims, drawings, inventor oaths, application data sheets, and entity certification forms prepared as part of the filing package. On the trademark side, the practice covers comprehensive TESS database searches with written legal opinions on class, use, specimen, distinctiveness, and likelihood of confusion, followed by preparation and electronic filing of applications. The firm also states that it handles IP litigation matters and inter partes review.

Search and opinion work is positioned as a front-end service rather than an afterthought: patentability searches produce a report assessing novelty and obviousness against prior art, and trademark searches deliver a formal opinion on registrability before an application is submitted. Clients range from individual inventors and first-time brand owners to established companies with multiple filings, including remote and international clients who work with the firm online. A free confidential consultation is offered, and the practice is reachable by phone, text, and email.

Reviewers consistently describe the attorney as responsive, patient, and direct, with several noting that he explains each step, identifies problems in applications that had previously stalled or been rejected, and follows through on calls and messages. Cost predictability comes up often: multiple clients mention flat fees that were honored, rates described as reasonable, and quotes lower than those received from other firms. Honesty is another recurring note, including consultations that ended with advice against filing when registration or patenting did not make sense.

The main limitation visible in the reviews is scale: the practice is closely identified with one attorney, so clients seeking a large multi-lawyer team may find a boutique setup. Some consultations also conclude that an invention is not patentable or that registration is not advisable, an honest outcome that can still disappoint the client.