Why to approach a Licensed Patent Professional for protecting your invention

Protecting Your Invention

As an individual inventor, you may not have complete knowledge of the proceedings of a Patent office. Although there are guiding websites for patent filing and few freelancers who can help you out, they can only help you to some extent. An invention is a valuable intellectual property for an inventor, which involves a lot of intellect, hard work, and investment. It cannot be put at risk by processing this under a new source.

A Licensed patent professional who looks after the patenting stuff day-in and day-out is the best option for protecting your ideas.

Licensed professionals are of two categories. Patent Agent and Patent Attorney. There is a difference between these two categories. Patent Agents may play almost the same role before USPTO and represent their clients but not in other legal settings, such as prosecuting a patent infringement.

“In one sentence: The difference between patent attorneys and patent agents is that patent attorneys are licensed lawyers and can practice in court and give advice in all business-related legal matters, while patent agents have only passed the Patent Bar Exam and are registered to practice by the USPTO. Both must have a technical degree: BS, MS, or Ph.D. in a technical field.” (Source: https://www.patentlawyer.io/patent-attorney-vs-patent-agent/)

Let’s see the fundamental difference between  Patent attorney and Patent agent.

Source: https://www.patentlawyer.io/patent-attorney-vs-patent-agent/

Below mentioned are few aspects which make a patent professional have the edge over a non-professional.

 Professionals understand the requirements for filing a patent ultimately. They try to understand your invention thoroughly though they might not be an expert of your technological area.
 They interact with you as many times as required to ensure every document, records, and minute details are shared to get a perfect understanding.
 They get a prior art searched for the invention, to see if the invention can be patented.
 They advise modification wherever possible to avoid rejection by an examiner of the patent office.
 They prepare proper documentation per the requirement of the patent offices.
 They understand the actions to be taken before specific deadlines, like responding to office actions and the like within a stipulated time.
 Claims are the most crucial part of a patent, as they define the scope of an invention. Drafting claims of a patent is an art. Patent Agent/Attorney has the right expertise in this art.

Hence, it is always advisable to approach a licensed patent professional, which saves time, investment; and thereby provide less scope of your patent application getting rejected.

Sources: https://www.patentlawyer.io/patent-attorney-vs-patent-agent/
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/patent-attorney.asp