Indian Law: Who is a Patent Attorney?
Mon, 08/23/2010 - 04:23 — LIG Reporter
The term ‘patent attorney’ is not specified or defined under Indian law. In India, a patent attorney refers to an advocate with specialized legal knowledge pertaining to patent laws and offers legal advice on patents. Patent laws entitle the patent owner to exclusive patent rights pertaining to his original inventions. Also, patent laws protect a product from the possibility of unethical imitations.
In India, a patent attorney is also known as a patent agent or patent lawyer. He is considered competent to advise and represent clients in all matters pertaining to patents. In India, a person who is registered to practice before the Indian Patent Office, is known as a registered patent agent. The Indian Patent Office is a government authorized body that administers the Indian laws on patents, trademarks and designs. The office conducts a qualifying exam for the appointment of registered patent agents in India. At present, there are approximately 1626 registered patent agents in India.
Indian Law: Legal Advice Rendered by a Patent Attorney
Patent and trademark laws under Indian law safeguard a product’s commercial laws. Further, it adds to the commercial value of the product. Trademark registration also serves as an evidence for the ownership of a product. These are the areas on which a patent attorney can offer legal advice on.
However, due to the increased usage of the Internet, the owners of patents are likely to face some problems, such as:
· Domain name disputes.
· Spamming.
· Identity thefts.
· Commercial e-mails.
To seek relief from such problems, a patent owner can approach a patent attorney or a patent law firm for legal advice. The patent attorney will help a patent owner to protect the product, its original ideas and inventions. The patent attorney will offer legal advice on how to safeguard rights pertaining to intellectual property, through processes such as applying for patents, trademarks, domain names and copyrights. A patent attorney will also assist in resolving disputes on patent rights.
Indian Law: Legal Services and Fees of a Patent Attorney
To file and register for patent rights, several legal formalities and procedures have to be complied with. A skilled patent attorney will help you to fulfill all these legal formalities.
A variety of services provided by a patent attorney are as follows:
- Patent & trademark drafting.
- Patent & trademark searches.
- Patent & trademark applications.
- Patent & trademark prosecution.
- Patent & trademark licensing.
- Patent drawings.
- Protection from patent infringement.
- Patent maintenance.
A patent attorney not only helps you to obtain a patent, but he also ensures that your patent is enforceable by law but remember, a patent application takes about 18 months to get published. The fees charged by Indian patent attorneys tend to vary. However, a report on this by Business World indicates that the fee is typically between $1,500 and $5,000 but in the US, the same services span between $5,000 and $100,000.
picture source: invention-guide dot com
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