Patent Examiner Duties & Responsibilities
The role and function of a Patent Examiner includes the following duties and responsibilities:
- Searching through earlier publications, technical literature and online databases of National and foreign patent specifications to make sure that the application is novel;
- Investigating each application to ascertain that the invention is described clearly and in such a way that a skilled person would be able to use it;
- Conducting a substantive examination, including a detailed examination of the description and the claims (i.e. the extent of the monopoly sought);
- Considering legal matters affecting acceptability and entitlement to the monopoly claimed by the applicant;
- Making a final decision as to the novelty of the invention, which is written in a final report;
- Discussing and negotiating with the applicant and patent lawyer to resolve any matters raised in the final report;
- Maintaining up-to-date knowledge of developments through study and visits to laboratories, factories, exhibitions and seminars;
- Occasional specialised work, such as intellectual property policy, information retrieval and publicity.
- Presenting cases at hearings before a principal examiner;
- Examining the invention from a technical standpoint;
- Gathering information on which to base a judgement as to the originality of the invention;
- Preparing an initial report and giving the results of the search to the applicant or, more usually, a patent attorney, who then decides whether to proceed to the second stage of the application;
Note that this is not an exhaustive list of Patent Examiner duties and responsibilities. Job functions for specific Patent Examiner roles may vary, depending on the industry and type of employer.
