According to the various stages of patent application, the duties of patent agents can be roughly divided into three aspects:
Before providing agency services for an inventor to apply for a patent, a patent agent shall first provide the inventor with suggestions on whether it is possible to apply for a patent or whether it is worth applying for a patent.
(1) A patent agent should first judge whether the content of an invention or creation violates national laws, social morality or harms public interests. In addition, according to the provisions of Article 25 of China's Patent Law, you can't apply for a patent for an invention-creation that belongs to the technical field where no patent right is granted. The task of the patent agent is to explain the relevant provisions of the patent law to the inventor, and to carefully handle and judge whether the invention-creation belongs to the technical field where the patent is not granted.
(2) For an invention-creation, whether to fight for patent protection or keep the secret of the invention-creation, the patent agent shall weigh the advantages and disadvantages according to the objective conditions such as technology and economy, and provide the inventor with a practical choice.
(3) Whether mastering the technical value of the patent meets the requirements of novelty, practicality and creativity stipulated in the Patent Law. If necessary, novelty search should be carried out to find out whether the new invention technology is newer than the existing technology level and whether it can be implemented. Otherwise, the patent agent must consider the interests of the inventor and advise him not to apply for a patent, so as not to waste money and time.
(4) Pay full attention to the economic benefits of invention and creation. If an invention is patentable, but its application scope is very narrow, it is impossible for large-scale production to enter the market and achieve commercial success, the patent agent should advise the parties to abandon the patent application. Because patent application needs to pay a certain fee, the patentee must get the highest result when obtaining several patents for patent application.
On the premise of economic benefits. In addition to providing consulting services to applicants, inventors and patentees, patent agents can also provide consulting services to other parties that may be involved, such as dissidents, patent litigators and licensed traders.
It should be noted that in the consultation process, it is necessary to prevent being fooled.
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