“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.

Transcript :

Kirtiman

Hello and Welcome to the Patkey show. And here are today’s three questions.

Q1. What are the jobs in IPR for a science graduate?

Q2. How many patent agents are currently active in India?

Q3. Do I have to go to court, if I clear the examination?

Hello and welcome to the Patkey show where we talk about tips and tricks about patent examination conducted by the Indian Patent Office and the government of India.

I’m Kirtiman Sharma.

Cheshta

And I am Cheshta Sharma.

Kirtiman

And let’s get into the show by answering the first question. So Cheshta, the first question for today is what are the jobs in IPR for science graduate?

Cheshta

Awesome. So, jobs for IPR. IPR stands for intellectual property rights for the science graduates. I generally recommend that within all the IPR there are seven types of IPR. So patent is the most like most closest field for the science graduates. So in the patent field also, there are a lot of designations which are available to start off with. First is a patent agent for the examination you are preparing. Second is Patent Analyst, Patent Docketing Officer, Technology Transfer Officer, Patient Associate, Research Associate. So these are the designations which are used in a lot of companies. Like if you are going and applying for a law firm. So you will get a designation of patent Agent or Patient Associate. If you’re applying for the top KPOs like Clarivate or CPA Global, you will find designation of research Associate or a patent Analyst or a technical Analyst depending upon the hierarchy of the company and their organisational structure. In also KPIs, you will find jobs of patent docketing Officer. And what more designations? I think this will be all interchangeably. These designations and these job profiles are available.

Kirtiman

Designations keep on changing from the companies to company. Also because some companies call some job profiles, they call it differently. But the jobs are very similar. So jobs are I think based on the hardcore if you’re talking about the question was IPR not a patent agent for IPR? I think the jobs are like the first is IP generation. Generation is like you’re filing the intellectual property, you’re filing the patent for somebody else or your company. That’s the IP generation. So in IP generation only. So there are a lot of support jobs. Also, there’s research, right. You have to do prior art research, you have to do freedom to operate. That comes into the patent analysis. And so there is a lot of docketing, a lot of paperwork. So people think that everything happens like that. So there’s a lot of paperwork which is generated and it has to be kept very precisely because it has to be produced for the next 20 years. You might need the paperwork again and again and you want to license the technology and also. So there’s a lot of docketing, a lot of support work that is going on around IP generation only.

Cheshta

Sure.

Kirtiman

I think that’s a good answer. Yeah. So the next question here is how many patent agents are currently active in India?

Cheshta

Okay, so approximately 4000 patent agents are currently active in India. So this examination since last ten years. But because of the lack of awareness, not many people are still entering the field. But yes, there has been a lot of campaigning by our government like the Startup India Campaign and Make in India campaigns. So we are seeing more traction in this area of career and we are seeing more and more patient professionals entering into this field. To give you more statistics, like in worldwide 3.1 million patents were filed in last year. So we see that there will be great demand of patent professional patent agents in India and we see more people qualifying and coming up into this category.

Kirtiman

So Cheshta, my question is you said 4000 around. So is this a large number or this is a small number?

Cheshta

This is a very small number. This is a very small number considering that in a world we have 3.1 million patents filed every year. So this is a very small number comparative to the kind of patents we are filing. Because why I’m talking the global number because not only Indian origin companies are filing patents but also the companies were outside, let’s say in US and Japan, they’re also coming to India to file their patents. So, we need professionals here which are expert in Indian patent law or registered patent agent who can not only help domestic companies but who can also help the international companies which are coming to India. So global number makes a lot of sense for us.

Kirtiman

Yeah. So you guys have a lot of potential, a lot of scope for new patent agents to qualify and start their practices. All right, let’s move on to the next question which is do I have to go to a court if I clear the examination? I think this is a very good question because I did not realize this is a question but that good that this is being asked. So what do you say?

Cheshta

No, you don’t have to go to court. Number one so as a patent agent, we have patent offices which are different from a district court or a high court. We have patent offices. So all our hearing, let’s say a patent is opposed. So that happens inside the patent offices. So there are four patent offices, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and chennai. So according to your area of service, let’s say I’m located in Delhi. So I will be going to Delhi patent office. So if any opposition hearing or any proceedings are happening, they will happen inside the patent office. They have a tribunal inside the patent office. So I don’t have to go to a court. And also nowadays because of the COVID situation, all the hearings are happening online. So it is good that it is a COVID proof career and we are still working and all our patents are also filed online. So that’s a good thing. We don’t have to go anywhere, especially we don’t have to go to court. We are more concerned and active with patent office of India or in case of filing an international application, then you are communicating online with Wipo : World Intellectual Property Organization Geneva, Switzerland.

Cheshta

So all the communication, whether you are having a WIPO or at Indian patent offices is online.

Kirtiman

All right. So if you guys any of you guys watching this video are preparing for the patent agent examination, we have a Masterclass : Patkey masterclass. The link of that is in the description below. You can see it’s a free master class. You can all watch it. All your questions related to your profile, your future career options and everything will be answered there. You can ask your questions live there and also for this show. If you have any more questions, please ask your questions in the comment box. That’s it for now.

Kirtiman

Thank you. Bye.