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Use A Licensed Practitioner

Wednesday, February 10, 2010 7:48 am

Many individual inventors try to write and file their own patents. This is usually a BIG MISTAKE. Did I say that loud enough? The better choice is -- hire a licensed Patent Attorney or Patent Agent, also known as Patent Practitioners, who have a background in helping individual inventors. If you have an invention idea that you think has market potential, don’t trip and fall coming out of the starting gate.

The following is excerpted from the United States Patent Office’s booklet General Information Concerning Patents:

"The preparation of an application for patent and the conducting of the proceedings in the Patent and Trademark Office to obtain the patent is an undertaking requiring the knowledge of patent law and rules and Patent and Trademark Office practice and procedures, as well as knowledge of the scientific or technical matters involved in the particular invention."

"Inventors may prepare their own applications and file them in the Patent and Trademark Office and conduct the proceedings themselves, but unless they are familiar with these matters or study them in detail, they may get into considerable difficulty. While a patent may be obtained in many cases by persons not skilled in this work, there would be no assurance that the patent obtained would adequately protect the particular invention."

"Most inventors employ the services of registered patent attorneys or patent agents. The law gives the Patent and Trademark Office the power to make rules and regulations governing conduct and the recognition of patent attorneys and agents to practice before the Patent and Trademark Office. Persons who are not recognized by the Patent and Trademark Office for this practice are not permitted by law to represent inventors before the Patent and Trademark Office. The Patent and Trademark Office maintains a register of attorneys and agents. To be admitted to this register, a person must comply with the regulations prescribed by the Office, which require a showing that the person is of good moral character and of good repute and that he/she has the legal, and scientific and technical qualifications necessary to render applicants for patents a valuable service. Certain of these qualifications must be demonstrated by the passing of an examination. Those admitted to the examination must have a college degree in engineering or physical science or the equivalent of such a degree."

There’s an old saying: A person who is his own attorney has a fool for a client. This is especially true for inventions and patents. Allow the Patent Office to do you the favor of testing, licensing and regulating knowledgeable patent practitioners of high integrity.

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