It was around this time that I learned about patent law, which is a special area of legal practice that requires people with technical backgrounds. The field of patent law is split into two broad practice areas: patent prosecution and patent litigation. As a patent litigator, I help companies enforce their patents and defend companies against allegations of patent infringement. So if one of my clients is sued for patent infringement, they will ask me to defend the suit for them. Or, on the other hand, if one of my clients thinks that another company infringes their patent, I will help them investigate the potential infringement and, if we find that the other company is likely infringing, I will initiate a patent infringement lawsuit against the infringers. Patent litigators generally have technical backgrounds, but they do not always practice in their specific practice area. For example, I am often placed on medical device cases, but I have also worked on litigations for pharmaceutical products and retail products, such as a special backpack or apparatus for hanging a picture frame.
During patent cases, the parties engage in “expert discovery.” This is my favorite part of a case because I get to work with experts in the field of the technology on which the case focuses. Experts draft reports regarding their opinion of whether the patent is infringed as well as a few other issues. After the reports are written, the attorneys will depose the experts, which gives the attorneys a chance to ask for clarification on what is discussed in the expert report.
Most patent cases, with the exception of pharmaceutical cases, are presented to a jury.
