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.