“THE PATKEY SHOW” is a YouTube episode series for people who have a keen interest in Indian Patent Agent Examination. This show is hosted by Cheshta Sharma and Kirtiman Sharma. In this episode, they have answered 3 most frequently asked questions regarding Patent Agent examination :
Q1. What is the difference between Patent Agent and Patent Officer?
Q2. I am currently in the last semester of my college. Am I eligible for the examination?
Q3. Can a Patent Agent become a Patent Officer?
Kirtiman
Hello and welcome to The Patkey Show, where we discuss tips and tricks about the Indian patent agent examination conducted by the government of India. I am Kiritiman Sharma.
Cheshta
I am Cheshta Sharma.
Kirtiman
And today, once again, we have three questions asked by you guys. So let’s get into the show. The first question, which I received as a comment under the YouTube video is, what is the difference between a patent agent and a patent officer?
Cheshta
Okay, that’s a very good question. So patent agent is somebody who has qualified Indian patent Agent examination and has now received a registration number and certificate from Indian government to practice as a patent agent in India. And as compared to this patent officer is a general term. All right. Generally, people use it when there’s a government vacancy which is notified by Indian Patent Office because they also hire patent officers and patent examiners. So patent office is a general term. It’s not something that you have a certificate with. It’s just that you have a knowledge of patent. Patent officer can be a government job. Patent officer can be a job inside a private company where your job role is to like to help get invention register to help file a patent and work with the patent prosecution system, or help anything in the process of patent. So patient officer is not something which is related to I will say that you have a certain qualification. Patient officer can be anybody who knows about the work of a patent. It’s a general term.
Kirtiman
Okay. So it’s general term. You’re saying patent office, but there are some officers inside the patent agent not patent the Patent Office of India.
Cheshta
So what’s that they are generally patent examiners.
Kirtiman
Okay. So that’s different than officers, right?
Cheshta
So patent examiners are the one because patents take three years of time for a grant. So patent examiners are the ones who check the patent when you file with the patent office. So they are the government employees and they will produce fer that is called first examination report. And they’ll tell you what are the objections in the patent, and they’ll tell you whether these claims are passed or not. So they are called patent examiners.
Kirtiman
Okay. So the patent examiner is different. Patent officer is the general term. Anybody who understands about patent and working in the patent industry can be a patent officer, right. But patent examiners work inside the Patent Office of India, right?
Cheshta
Absolutely.
Kirtiman
And what do patent then? Patent agents do not work inside the Patent Office of India, but they are outside of a patent office. But still agents of the government.
Cheshta
Yes. You can say that they’re still the agents of a government because government cannot be everywhere. So everywhere there are agents which can talk to inventors, guide them and increase the patent filing.
Kirtiman
All right. Okay. So there are three terms. Agents of the government who can be anywhere. Patent Office of India is only at four places. So office is not everywhere. So agents are everywhere. So they help the inventors to be everywhere. While patent officer can be anybody who’s working inside patent industry, it’s like a generic term. While patent examiner, which can be confused by some people as patent officer. Patent examiner is a post which is inside the Patent Office of India.
Cheshta
Correct.
Kirtiman
So this examination of patent agent examination. So I do not work inside the Patent Office of India.
Cheshta
Right. You will qualify as a patent agent and you will be working as agents acting in helping patent office reach to the places where patent office cannot be there.
Kirtiman
All right. Okay. So there’s a different examination for patent examiners.
Cheshta
Patent exams? Yes. There’s a separate examination for patent examiners. That is just like any government vacancies. Every government officers have some vacancies. So patient examiner’s vacancies are like, it’s not fixed that they will come every year or twice a year. Whenever they have openings, they will announce a test and they will announce also that from which branch, how many examiners vacancies they have, like from chemistry, they want five examiners. From metallurgy, they require three. From chemical technology, they require two. From computer science, they require one. So these are the openings. And then for that interview, it’s like an interview. For that interview, there’s a written examination followed by interview, and then you get a job inside the patent office, which is a government job of a patent examiner.
Kirtiman
So don’t confuse between patent agents and patent examiners. A completely different work profile.
Cheshta
Right.
Kirtiman
And a completely different examination and complete different jobs. All right. Which is better? None are better. Both are good.
Cheshta
Both are good. Both are good. They are different job profiles.
Kirtiman
Yeah, they’re different job profiles. Absolutely different job profiles. And both are connected to the government, by the way. All right. Let’s do the next question, which is again, a YouTube comment. I am currently in the last semester of my College. Am I eligible for the examination?
Cheshta
Yes, you are eligible for the examination if you’re in the last semester of your science degree, right. If you’re in the last semester of your BCom, then you’re not eligible if you’re in the last semester of any of these degrees, that is BSc, MSC, B, Pharma, M pharma, BTech, MTech, PhD, BDS. If any of these you are in your last semester, then, yes, you are eligible for the examination. You can submit your previous semester Mark sheet while filling up the examination form. You can give the examination. Once you qualify, the examination results will come after two months. Then there will be interview. After that, you have to submit your provisional Mark sheet or provisional degree till the time you will get it, because results will come around August, September. Then you’re good to go.
Kirtiman
All right, good. The third question is, can a patent agent become a patent officer? Again? I think this is a confusing question because patent officer being a generic term. So yes, definitely you are a patent officer. But I think this might be that a patent agent can become a patent examiner.
Cheshta
Let’s talk about both the scenarios. The patent agent is a certification. It’s like a qualification that you have a BSc certification. So similarly, patent agent is an extra certificate. Thank you. And patent officer is a designation inside the company. A patent examiner is a designation inside a patent office. Right. So with patent agent qualification or degree, you can be anybody. You can be a technology transfer officer. You can be a patent officer. You can be a patent examiner. You can be a CEO. You can be patient attorney. You can be RNA head can also be a patent agent. Right. It’s a qualification that you know about patent. So it’s a degree that you have. So you can be anybody.
Kirtiman
All right. But I understood that there is no connection between patent agent and patent examiner.
Cheshta
Right.
Kirtiman
Because to become an examiner, if you’re a patent agent you don’t have to leave your present job. Also you can continue your job and still be a patent agent.
Cheshta
Right.
Kirtiman
While to become a patent examiner you have to leave your job and then start working inside the patent office of India. And that’s a completely different kind of a job, right?
Cheshta
Absolutely. Right.
Kirtiman
Okay. Which makes me think that patent agents have a much better scope Because they still have a lot of opportunities open to them.
Cheshta
Yeah, they can do anything. But sometimes I receive candidates who are like RND heads, they are formulation scientists and they want to know about patents so they are giving the examination to get an added thing to their resume, to your profile so that they can progress even as a scientist inside their company.
Kirtiman
So patent examiners are very technical people and they would examine if the patent filed by different inventors is that patent filed in the correct manner and is the scientific so they would be very specific towards their own field. As Jesus told, the patent examiners are from different fields like chemistry, biotechnology. So they don’t do work of multiple industries while a patent agent can do work of any industry. Definitely allowed to do that.
Cheshta
Absolutely.
Kirtiman
So that’s the three questions of today’s Pat quiz show. Please ask all your questions in the comment box. And if you want to know more about patent agent examination or you’re looking to qualify this examination and you’re looking for how to qualify this examination, there’s a master class which is free, of course. And there’s a link below for this master class. You can join this master class gesture would be giving this master and all your questions will be answered there. I suggest you join that master class. Alright. That’s it for today’s show. Thanks. Thank you.
