Given the complexity of the patent prosecution process, hiring a patent prosecution paralegal is prudent. It’s important to first understand the role of a paralegal and then get into specifics of a patent prosecution paralegal. The amount of legal work for a lawyer during the entire process is immense. This includes communication with the client, the USPTO, document preparation, docketing, etc. You would obviously want to ensure that the entire process is seamless and flawless right down to the last thread. So, hiring a paralegal is an absolute necessity. Let’s understand why.
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Patent Paralegal: Job Responsibilities
A paralegal is a person who takes care of substantive legal work while working for a lawyer. The work revolves around recognition, evaluation, and communication of relevant facts and legal concepts. A lawyer can do this work alone but there is a large magnitude of work that needs attention in short spans of time. Hence, hiring a paralegal takes a lot of weight off the shoulders of a lawyer. Check out the Benefits of a Patent Paralegal Service.
A patent paralegal’s legal work naturally revolves around matters of IP and more specifically, patents. Patent law requires a technical understanding of scientific principles and phenomena. Hence a patent paralegal needs to have extra knowledge of science like engineering, life sciences, chemistry, etc. This makes the job of a patent paralegal harder than other paralegals. Read more about the duties a patent paralegal needs to perform to understand their responsibilities better.
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The Role and Importance of a Patent Prosecution Paralegal
A patent prosecution paralegal is a person with a specialization in the patent prosecution process. They need to be proficient in certain domains. They are:
- Patent application drafting and filing
- Keeping track of deadlines
- Handling docketing systems for multiple cases
- Corresponding with clients
- Performing administrative tasks
The patent prosecution paralegal has to understand the invention very clearly. This is key because they need to be able to assist in the drafting of the patent application. Hence, their correspondences with the client are very delicate and important.
They must also keep track of the deadlines so that everything is done in a timely manner and no undue situations arise. This is easier when they maintain a good docketing system. This will also help them to handle multiple cases together.
Also Read: How to draft an Accurate Patent Claim
Need a Paralegal? – Patent Paralegal Force
You can see the importance a patent prosecution paralegal has in the entire patent process. The process is tedious, time-consuming, and it is definitely not a one-person job. Hence, hiring a patent paralegal is a wise option. At Patent Paralegal Force, we offer cost-effective professional legal assistance and paralegal services to patent and IP attorneys worldwide. Our team has professionals who boast years of experience who use state-of-the-art tools to support you through the patent process.We follow flexibility to accommodate the best of our client’s needs, through our automation and manual techniques. Visit our Patent Paralegal Services to avail us.