Exhibit A
Patent Attorneys work in Billings
Billings is the largest city in Montana and the business centre for a wide stretch of the state and northern Wyoming, so the patent and intellectual property work here follows the oil and gas suppliers, the agricultural equipment businesses, the medical and tech startups and the manufacturers that sit along the Yellowstone Valley. The number of firms advertising patent services locally is small, and a good share of the searches come from inventors and small companies who are looking for someone they can meet in person. Paid search on patent terms in this market is modest compared with a metro of similar size, which tells you the demand is there and mostly being met through reputation and referral rather than through ads. The firms holding that demand are largely owner operated practices and small partnerships rather than franchises. That leaves a real opening for a firm that publishes useful pages about patents, trademarks and the local business landscape.
