A patent is a property right or a license from a government authority to the owner for a set period, to exclude others from making, using, selling or distributing their invention. If the same gets violated, then the patent holder can make use of patent law in order to enforce their rights.

To become a Patent Attorney the candidate should have the following qualifications. They are as follows:

• He/she should have a degree in Science, Engineering or Technology from any recognized university in the territory of India or should have other equivalent qualifications as specified by the Central Government.
• The candidate should have cleared his Indian Patent Agent examination.
• An advocate who has a membership in State Bar Council can also practice as a Patent Attorney. For that he should have a Bachelor’s degree (LLB) in Law and must clear his Common Law Admission Test (CLAT)
• Several universities and colleges have courses in Patent Law. Among them, NALSAR-Hyderabad and Indian Institute of Patent and Trademark Attorney (IIPTA) in Delhi and Hyderabad are the leading colleges. NALSAR-Hyderabad provides one-year PG diploma course in Patent Law for graduate students.

There are several attorney firms and institutions in India who are providing training in Patent Law. There are courses such as :

• Post Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Propertry Rights and Patent Managment 
• Post Graduate Diploma in Patent and IP Laws, processes and services 
• Post Graduate Diploma in Patent Law and Practice
• Professional Training in Patent Law and Practice 

• A candidate who is seeking a job opportunity as a patent attorney can start their career as a trainee by joining an organization which specializes in patent services. 
• They have job opportunities in law firms as well as corporate organizations. Intellectual Property Law Firms in India deals with especially in matters like trademark, patents, copyrights, etc. They employ patent attorneys to take care of their patent issues. 
   

Following skills are required to become a Patent Attorney. They are as follows:

• Research and communication skills
• Analytical and interpersonal skills
• The candidate should understand and have all kinds of information with him.
• They should be energetic and dedicated towards their work.
• The candidate should have the ability to work under pressure and long working hours. 
• He/she should have technical knowledge in engineering, technology, physics, chemistry or biology. 
• The candidate must be creative for making his valuable contributions to the design or software invention.
• He/she should have the good reading and reporting ability.
   

• There are several universities and colleges which provides courses in Patent Law. Among them NALSAR-Hyderabad and Indian Institute of Patent and Trademark Attorney (IIPTA) in Delhi and Hyderabad are the leading colleges. 
• IIPTA provides distance learning as well as online cloud campus study option for Patent Agent examination (cloudcampus.iipta.com). 
   

• To get flourish into this field a candidate can do specialization in Intellectual Patent Rights/Patent Law. A person who has an experience in this field can work as in-house consultants in various organizations or start their own consultancy services. 

To become a patent attorney, the candidate should appear in the Indian Patent Agent examination. The eligibility criteria are as follows:

• The candidate should be a citizen of India
• He/she should have completed the age of 21 years
• He/she should have a degree in Science, Engineering or Technology from any recognized university in the territory of India or should have other equivalent qualifications as specified by the Central Government.
• The candidate should have good command over English language.
• An advocate who has a membership in State Bar Council can practice as a Patent Attorney
   

The patent attorney deals with various clients and helps them to get patents along with other legal concerns.  Following jobs are expected from a patent attorney. They are as follows:

• They have to deal with matters and procedures related to patent law like giving advice to the client for the feasibility of obtaining a patent, verifying the documents, help them in preparing and filing patent application, represent them in the patent office for getting patents and help the clients with the issues like patent validity and litigation matters.
• They monitor or find out whether an invention is already patented or not.
• To draft the patent specifications like giving the details of the invention with statement of claims as per the rules to the concerned authorities
• To co-ordinate with the patent officer for getting a patent
• If any objections rise, then he does the required correspondence with the patent office on it.
• He defends an application against any opposition or objections raised by the patent officer.
• To do the legal proceedings like filing and represent the client in an opposition matter.
• To represent the client in the court in hearing cases, filing a lawsuit in case of any infringement and any other patent litigation matters
• To get the license of the granted patent

• The salary package of a Patent Attorney or a Patent Agent depends upon the services, type and field of invention. 
• The salary of a Patent Attorney is higher than a Patent Agent as they can protect the patents of their clients in the court. 
• A Patent Attorney can charge fees for drafting and filing of application for the patents and any other cases related to that. In India, the minimum salary of a trainee patent attorney ranges from approx. Rs. 15,000/- to approx. Rs. 20,000 per month. 
• According to an individual’s performance and experience it gets increases from approx. Rs. 3 lacs to approx. Rs. 15 lacs per annum.