Patent Attorney USA
registered patent attorney
Patent Attorney or Lawyer
Patent is a legal right obtained by a party (individual or company) so as to reap rewards for their intellectual innovations. It is given to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time but he/she has to give detailed explanation to public. This disclosure is mandatory so as to let public know that it involved extensive efforts to create novelty. Also, others who have patented for slightly overlapping ideas might consider themselves spared of violation.
People who have technical skills to analyze if the patent is violated or to be filed, on behalf of their clients are considered as Patent Attorney or Patent Lawyers in US. US Patent Attorney or Lawyer in US is a person who can practice law related to patents. Patent Attorney US has a license to practice and represent clients in front of USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) . They also provide patentability opinions to clients . Patentability is a procedure to check if a patent has already been filed for the same technique or innovation . It is a tedious task, because an attorney has to check closely related patents. It is very important with regards to profitability of a client as nobody would want to spend time on patenting techniques which have already been patented.
They may prepare, file and prosecute patent applications. Patent Attorneys US must be admitted to the practice of law in at least one state or territory of the US or in District of Columbia. If we compare all the states, California has largest number of patent attorneys . US Patent Attorney need to have a technical qualification, generally a bachelor degree, to understand the aspects of patent already filed, or one which is going to be filed. To register as a Patent Attorney one must pass the USPTO registration exam. Upon successful completion of this exam, one will be considered as a Patent Attorney if he/she has already been admitted to a state or territorial bar. If they don’t, they are considered as patent agents only who can’t be treated as patent attorneys. Patent agents can neither represent clients in court nor can give them advice. Hence it is important to be admitted to a state or territorial bar. One has to be a US Citizen to take this examination, however Canadian citizens are also given previleges which are not reciprocated by Canada.
Companies spend a huge amount of money to come at par with their counterparts regarding patent filing and patentability searches. Besides patentability there is one more vertical, patent infringement. Infringement as the name suggests is to sue another party if found to be using same technology for which patent has already been acquired. Patent attorneys get paid very well to examine and initiate the legal proceedings when things don’t get sorted upon mutual understanding. Clients, do have permanent or fixed attorneys these days who understand them and their products better. Long term relationships do matter in this field as attorneys always have an option to represent clients who pay more. Infringement penalties vary as per the damage caused. It can be in thousands of dollars or in billions depending upon the client size or patent’s market value . Hence a good attorney is always sought who can analyze the damage caused and compensation to the client. This aspect also needs through research and analysis which has to be integrated with legal capacities so as to assess the compensation.