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Do you want to specialize in patent law? This article gets you acquainted with the entire job description and responsibilities of patent lawyers, so that you prepare yourself to contribute to the protection of American trademarks and copyrights abroad.
Patenting is a critical process that grants a patentee the right to exclude others from not only making, but using or selling the invention in the country. Working in the specialized field of law, patent lawyers govern intellectual property. It is the duty of patent lawyers to represent inventors throughout the patent application procedure, so as to protect their clients’ rights of invention.
While the process of patenting is a complicated one, it does require expertise of a trained lawyer who can make known all the rules and regulations of the application procedure for a patent to the clients, negotiate contracts, and help them understand all legal representations. More on the job profile patent lawyers follows in the sections below.
Job Profile
Today, individuals and organizations all over the world obtain patents in order to reserve total acquirement over their production, which includes the use, sale, and control of new ideas and products. But obviously, with the world full of innovative concepts, proper advice and guidance is required all throughout the patent application and legal procedure.
That is what a patent lawyer does – he makes the process of patenting an easy and a hassle-free one, a legal professional having specialized in patent law that he is. The key responsibilities may include the interpretation of patent laws, carrying forward the applications to the Patenting Office, and in case of patent infringement, representing clients in the court.
Many patent lawyers provide legal assistance to organizations that require copyright protection overseas and need to secure their trademark. Note that, in the United States, two types of patent practitioners carry out the process of patenting. While patent attorneys achieve technical qualifications by passing the respective examination for registration to practice in patent cases, patent agents may not really be able to help with providing a legal opinion with regards to the validity of the opposite party’s patent in case of a litigation contemplation.
However, both patent agents as well as patent lawyers are registered to practice patenting, and representing clients in filing and prosecution of patenting applications before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In a nutshell, here is a list of all the duties and responsibilities of a patent lawyer:
- Covering patents and intellectual property rights of inventors.
- Guiding clients through the patent application process.
- Representing clients in court in case of copyright infringement.
- Drafting, filing, and prosecuting patent applications on behalf of inventors.
- Providing legal assistance in case of challenges to the license of an idea.
- Providing legal services to companies requiring copyright protection abroad.
Pay Scale
In accordance with the statistics put forth by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, America, job prospects for patent lawyers are expected to take a hike by 13 percent between 2008 and 2018. Today, companies all over the world are hiring patent lawyers that practice patent filings and legal proceedings. Firms require the processing time of application filings for patents to be simpler and shorter, and hence, this underlines the significance of the job of a patent lawyer.
As far as the salary of a patent lawyer in America goes, the average figures easily touch $110,000, which makes law the most lucrative career after medicine. A patent lawyer with an experience of 5 – 9 years, earns around $180,000 per annum. This figure goes up to $300,000 with increasing experience. All in all, the future in this field is all but disappointing, and the mind-blowing salary figures underline this fact better than anything else.
A 4-year degree in law, followed by a law program by an accredited law school, a state bar exam, and you’re set to kick-start your career as a patent lawyer. Job description and salary figures represent immense career growth in this field. If they have managed to inspire you even a bit, it’s time you start preparing to become a patent lawyer in a reputed firm. Here’s wishing you luck!