for our records

[jim_mich]

Just a quick note here. I think Ken means a patent agent not a patent examiner? A patent agent is similar to a patent attorney but without a patent law degree. An agent or an attorney writes a patent application. A patent examiner is the person at the USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) assigned to examine your patent. He/she is the person that says yes or no to your patent application. The examiner at the PTO examines your application and makes a list of objections. You must then change your application to overcome his/her objections or else convince (argue with) the examiner that the objections are wrong. In the end the examiner has the final say. This arguing is call prosecution. It is what can quickly run up your attorney or agent fees. After your patent issues, if you take someone to court to inforce your patent rights then you need a patent attorney and it can get very expensive.

[ken_behrendt]

Right you are, Jim...I did mean a patent agent. I think my confusion resulted from an advertisement I saw a while ago offering the services of a patent agent who also happened to be a retired patent examiner. Actually, if I was to secure the services of a patent agent, then I think I would like to have one that was a former patent examiner. Surely, he would be thoroughly familiar with all of the in's and out's of the patent process and might help to keep my total bill down in the long run.

ken