Who Is A Patent Attorney And Should You Hire Them?

 

In India, the patent law was codified as early as 1858. But after the liberalization when India became a member of WTO, the professions in the field of patent began to be popularly recognized among the people. Post the Patents Act of 1970 was amended and the modifications in the working of the Indian Patent Office, the importance of patent lawyers and the patent agent has increased.

In India, we can say that patents are being filed in every field practically. Some of the fields include Aerospace, AI, robotics, ML, automotive, Ayurveda, biotech, chemistry, education, digital technologies, and many more. 

Who is a patent attorney?

Just like any other lawyer, the patent attorney is also a lawyer but he has more expertise in the law associated with intellectual property. Such laws deal with protecting the securing as well as property rights of an inventor. In the present times, the use of the services offered by patent lawyers is important when it comes to patent registration. They handle the tasks that are involved in the patent registration process.

Initially, the patent agents were hired to handle these tasks but nowadays patent lawyers are hired since they handle the tasks of the patent agents. But the patent agent and the patent attorney are different. Therefore make sure that you choose the right professional who will help you in this process. 

We can consider patent lawyers to be the person who has the authority for dealing with patent-related litigations because they are having a law degree. Any patent lawyer will always be an advocate but specialized in the patent area. But they also must have a degree in engineering, science or technology so that they can work as a patent lawyer. This is because having a degree in these fields will make it easier for them to understand the topic and invention better.

Role of the patent attorney:

In simple words, we can say that patent attorneys play a major role in the patent registration process. Since they have a degree in law they can handle patent litigation. So this implies that the person is a patent lawyer then they can handle the patent cases when they go to court. The important thing to remember is that the patent attorneys don’t have the power to file any patent. Hence, we can say that this implies that the attorney doesn’t have the authority to handle the patent prosecution but only the litigation-related issues which are connected can be undertaken by them.

In India, you can see both patent agents and attorneys. Based on the requirement any one of them or both are hired by the clients. When we look deeper we will be able to understand that the patent agent and the attorney are different. They differ in role and qualification as well. Hence if you are an inventor don’t confuse between both and ensure to hire the best patent attorneys or agents based on your need to handle the patent registration process.