Patent Law
Patent law is a discrete branch of intellectual property law. It is largely concerned with the forming of copyrights granted for new inventions on behalf of the inventor. For a patent to be filed in the United States, an invention must meet three legal criteria—new, useful and non-obvious. Patents offer an inventor a limited time period during which they may prevent others from profiting off their invention. Once the patent expires, the invention is subject to fair use, e.g. It becomes available to others. Patent law is designed to encourage inventions by offering the incentive of limited-time monopolies on the patent. After the patent term expires, the technology in question enters the public domain. In the United States, patent attorneys guide inventors through the process of creating patents, filing them with the USPTO, and defending patent-holders in court against infringement.
Apart from being profitable, patent law is a desirable practice area as patent attorneys have the benefit of working with some of the world’s most innovative scientists and engineers. In many cases, patent attorneys hail from scientific fields themselves. Patent attorneys need to be skilled in the mores of business, law, and science. In this sense, patent law is truly a multidisciplinary career. Registration with the NAPP (National Association of Patent Practitioners) is a necessary step to forming a patent law practice. This will also help with networking; the organization was formed so patent attorneys can trade information about procedures before the USPTO. Malpractice insurance must be obtained, which is notoriously difficult for patent attorneys. Billing requires opening a trust account or IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers Trust Account), so the firm can accept client funds for retainers and any subsequent legal fees that may arise. Patent law firms are typically run by on premise or software-as-a-service to keep track of billable hours, client files, accounting, billing and patent law payments.
Let Payment Integrator take care of your patent law billing needs so you can concentrate on what matters—effectively representing inventors. Patent law practices can apply our industry-leading payment processing solutions to existing electronic billing systems and trust accounts. Our hosted payment page (HPP) is perfect for generating live payment links to accompany client invoices for immediate payment. With our frictionless integration, client payments can be made electronically with credit cards or through E-Check and ACH technologies automatically and post to client statements. Payment Integrator will accept all major credit cards, debit cards, and enable the use of e-wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. All of our patent law payment acceptance methods are secure, P2PE, tokenized, and PCI-compliant.
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