“Patent Agents have passed the same USPTO Patent Bar Exam as attorneys.”

Patent Agents are less expensive than Patent Attorneys!

Patent Agents usually have more real world industry experience than attorneys.
Most attorneys are interested in the practice of law, and only have a ‘paper’ engineering degree for “talking the talk,” but only a few years experience “walking the walk” if at all.

A Patent Agent with engineering experience can rapidly appreciate what your invention does,
how it works, and how competitors may try to copy it. Fencing off imitations and cheap
knock-offs of your invention helps your product stand out better in its market.

Patent Agents have taken and passed the same USPTO Patent Bar Exam as attorneys.
They have the same level of competence at practicing patent law before a
USPTO patent examiner.

Patent Agent vs Patent Attorney

Patent Agent

A Patent Agent represents you and your invention before the US Patent Office

Patent Attorney

A Patent Attorney can represent you before a judge and other (third) parties
Patent Agent
Patent Attorney
Patent Agent

• A patent agent can prepare and file your application for a new invention,
  or I can help you do it yourself.

• A patent agent can handle all the paperwork and responses to make sure that
  your application describes your invention completely, includes enforceable claims,
  and makes sure your application complies with all the formalities that the
  patent office requires to be ready for examination.

• A patent agent can respond to office actions from an examiner, such as
  objections, rejections, and restriction requirements, and can explain what options
  the inventor has at each of these obstacles.

• A patent agent can file an appeal of an examiner’s decision or action,
  using the PTAB (Patent Trials and Appeals Board) system set up within the patent office.

Patent Attorney

A patent attorney can do everything an agent can do, plus many other legal services including trademarks, trade dress, logos, copyrights, and trade secrets protection.

An attorney can also create documents for legal agreements between you and others, such as non-disclosure agreements (NDAs,) royalty contracts, licensing agreements for
manufacturers and re-sellers, and assignments of the rights of the invention, in part or in its entirety, for a limited time or as a permanent transfer such as a purchase.

A patent attorney can make legal statements, while a patent agent usually only
makes expert statements. An attorney can write a Freedom to Operate (FTO) letter and take on the legal liability of making a reasonable assurance to an inventor that based on an evaluation of the body of known technology and art, the inventor does not infringe on a set of patents in the field of the invention: “Go make it and sell it, you
should be in the clear and no one should sue you.”

A patent attorney can sue third parties caught copying your invention, defend you
against infringement lawsuits from others, and negotiate settlements between you
and others (before a judge.)

Because of all these other services and others not listed here, a patent attorney
is usually more expensive than a patent agent. Also, most patent attorneys get a law
degree first, then go back to school to pick up a technical degree, then take the patent bar exam,
and enter patent practice with limited technical experience. Most patent agents come into patent
practice after many years of technical work such as engineering, design, and laboratory work.

About Guy Letourneau

“That Patent Guy”®

Over 30 years experience in mechanical engineering including two dozen patentable inventions in various industries. 

Wrote and self-prosecuted (3) Tesla turbine engine patents.

Registered to practice patent law before the USPTO, 2014.

Passed the Professional Engineering licensing exam in mechanical engineering in 1994.

Written and processed over 110 patents in the last 10 years.

BSME from University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1985.

MBA from Heriot-Watt University in Edinborough, Scotland 2000.

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