Q: What is preventing a lawyer to accept all patents ideas from clients regardless if he thinks it will pass or not?
I found a patent lawyer through lawyers.com, and spoke to him on the phone regarding my patent. While talking about fees, I mentioned that his patent search fee was a bit expensive but he said based on my knowledge and personal search which seemed in depth, we would not need to include this fee. He will also do a few check before we proceed.
My question is if he doesn't do an "extensive one" is it possible that my patent already exist and he lazy? Does he really doesn't care if the patent passes? What is preventing a lawyer to accept all patents ideas from clients regardless if he thinks it will pass or not?
A:
Well, of course, a patent lawyer wants to have patents issued on applications that he/she drafts. But it is never guaranteed that a patent application will be granted, and likewise, it is generally not certain that someone's genuine invention is unpatentable.
However, to answer your question, patent lawyers have to follow the US Patent Office Rules of Professional Conduct, which state that the attorney will operate in front of the US Patent Office in good faith. This prevents the attorney from filing patent applications that are "meritless" or "frivolous," which may be what you are referring to.
As far as laziness or lack of care goes, well, if he told you that there should be a patent search (presumably a patentability search) done, you balked at his price, and he said: "yes, sir, we'll do it your way." You are the boss, he simply does what you tell him to. If you did not authorize him to spend the time to do the search, that is not called laziness, or a lack of care on his part, but following directions from the client. What do you think that he should have done differently?
There is nothing wrong with not doing an extensive patentability search as long as the attorney knows the area well enough to proceed, as seems to be the case with your lawyer. Some clients are willing to pay the attorney to do an extensive search, some a cursory search, and some do not want any search done. It depends on the circumstances. The more extensive the search, the easier it is for the lawyer to draft and prosecute an application, but it is more expensive for the client to do the search.
Good luck!
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