Patent law is one of the lesser known areas of law, in particular from a procedural standpoint. Special licensing and exclusive exams, as well as an undergraduate degree in science or engineering, dictate who can practice patent law and only practitioners will have real in-depth knowledge. With only about 40,000 active practitioners in the US, course work in the field is extremely limited.

Regardless, it isn’t uncommon for an attorney with little or no background in patent prosecution to litigate a patent infringement case, negotiate a licensing agreement or settlements or determine a patent’s value in relation to acquisition or merger activities. Issues such as the vulnerability of a patent, invention, patenting and patent ownership may all come into play as well as the time and cost of obtaining a patent, all of which may impact the value figures in these settlements.

This CLE course will outline the entire patent prosecution process as well as relevant governing statutes and tips for how to best protect your clients from losing their patent rights.