What are patent agents and patent attorneys?
A patent agent helps inventors or owners of inventions get patents on their inventions. In order to understand the technical nature of the invention, patent agents talk with scientists or engineers who have made the invention and entrepreneurs or business people who have acquired rights in the invention. The patent agent must then gain an understanding of where the invention fits in the technology it represents and in what ways it is unique and thus eligible for a patent. Next the patent agent presents the invention to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the form of a patent application with claims to the invention. The patent agent has been trained in the rules for working with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to get the patent issued. Patent attorneys, also known as patent lawyers, have been admitted to the practice of law. They may, like patent agents, help get inventions patented. Unlike patent agents, they may also provide legal services such as protecting a client’s paten
