Hiring a patent paralegal is vital for IP law firms and patent attorneys. It is because they optimize the services you as an IP attorney provide to your diverse clients all around the world. You get their help in overcoming the tasks of giving legal and administrative support to your clients. IP Paralegal works with the IP team in your law firm and work as an IP support member. Thus you get an opportunity to make a difference in the service you provide to your clients. This will increase the reach of your IP law firm and you will receive more clients for your firm.
If you want to know more about the services of a patent paralegal, you are at the correct place. Read this article in full to get more understanding about their job role and need of hiring them.
Also read: Patent Law Paralegal: Know All About Them
Who is a Patent Paralegal?
A patent paralegal is an IP professional that works with IP law firms under their supervision on IP matters of firm’s clients. Don’t confuse them with a law practitioner, they do not that. Instead they help attorneys in legal matters of IP prosecution. They are also referred to as patent legal assistants who have an extra knowledge of science subjects like, biology, chemistry or engineering, etc. In fact this technical knowledge is needed also, as patent prosecution is all about dealing with inventions and technical developments.
Since patent paralegals help in patent prosecution, thus you can expect them to have knowledge of patent and trademark application filing. They area also well versed with patent prosecution procedure and other legal knowledge about IP matters.
Once you hire them, they help you with drafting applications, IP litigation, docketing, patent search, IP monitoring, etc. They also help you with checking filing status and responding to office actions by the USPTO. Other than this, an IP paralegal is a team player whose resourcefulness is very beneficial for your attorney. Keep reading to know about their roles and services in detail.
Also read: IP litigation: What is it, and Why It is Important?
What is the role of a Patent Paralegal?
An IP paralegal combines with the IP team of an IP attorney and manages the IP services for allotted client. They act as first point of contact between the client and the attorney, between the attorney and the USPTO. Thus you and your clients miss no notification from the patent office and take actions timely. They will ensure all the deadlines are met before the time. Thus you give value IP service to your clients. This will make you develop long-lasting and quality relation with your clients. Some of their important roles are as follows:
- They start with extracting relevant IP data from databases of patent offices of your region.
- They keep your client database up-to-date and address the needs of all your clients timely.
- For this, the IP paralegal you hire generates docket reports, by doing IP docketing.
- The IP docketing helps you track the deadlines on the applications of your clients. They also receive automatic reminders because of this, and thus proper action can be taken.
- They report to senior IP professionals in attorney and take actions as per their recommendation.
Also read: Patent Prosecution Paralegal: Importance and Role
Area Where You Get Their Dedicated Services
As told earlier, the patent paralegal you hire helps during all the stages of patent prosecution. But it is important to know, what are the key stages? where their role is pivotal for your client’s application. This part will tell you about that only, so keep reading further.
- Preparing application draft and filing it with USPTO:
Patent application is the document that contains all the information about your client’s invention. Thus, if the application draft is not proper then examiner will reject the application. Thus, the patent paralegal carries out all the relevant searches that proves the novelty of your application. They also add patent drawings and claims that explain the applicability of invention. All this, helps in making your application draft more comprehensive for the examiner.
- Proofreading the application before filing:
Once the application is prepared it is required to recheck it to omit any errors and mistakes if left in the application. The patent paralegal takes care of this concern and provides you with patent proofreading service. They will go through the application and check for any grammatical mistakes, errors in claims, etc. Thus the application is filed only after when it is completely error free.
- Preparing office action draft:
Office action is the report which consists of objections raised by patent office while rejecting the patent application. So if the patent application is rejected by USPTO, the patent paralegal studies the office action report. After studying the report, IP paralegal starts collecting the evidence to support application and also works on doing the corrections if any. They again refile the application, and don’t stop till the application is accepted finally.
Patent Paralegal Force: Your Trusted Partner
Hiring best patent paralegal will help you in giving the best services to your clients. This makes you earn more business as an IP attorney in the IP industry. However, choosing the wrong IP paralegal, will do more harm to you than good. Thus, you need to choose your IP partner who is reliable and shares vast experience. That’s why we present you the IP paralegal services of our, i.e. “Patent Paralegal Force”
With our reliable services we have earned clients in more than 45+ countries. Our team includes the professionals having rich experience in IP law dealings. We provide our paralegal services using state of art tools. We totally understand your work first and then proceed with our services. Read more about our services here.