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[castinet07]

Can anyone tell me if a patent agent has the same sort of protection with his/her client as a patent attorney?

I would certainly hate to be deposed by some litigation outfit and be forced to reveal a client's application if such litigation came down to it.

Are there case laws or statutes that have something on-point on this subject? I appreciate it. Thanks.

Casty07

[Agent_Orange]

I think you better have another look at Part 10 of the Patent Rules.

[Isaac]

Can anyone tell me if a patent agent has the same sort of protection with his/her client as a patent attorney?

I think mostly they do, but there is case law in a few jurisdictions suggesting that they do not.  Unfortunatley, the patent rules aren't much help in sorting this out.

[DJoshEsq]

In some jurisdictions, they do while in others they do not.    See e.g. Santrade, LTd. v. G.E., 150 F.R.D. 539 (E.D.N.C. 1993).

[DavidD]

The courts are not uniform in their treatment of whether communications with  patent agents are privileged.  Those that do not recognize this privilege reason that because a U.S. patent agent is not a member of the bar of any court, communications between a patent agent and their client are not privileged. Those in the other camp argue that one should extend the attorney-client privilege to patent agents because, as held by the United States Supreme Court, “[t]he preparation and prosecution of patent applications for others constitutes the practice of law.

The situation is even more complex when involving the privileged status of communications with foreign (i.e. non-U.S.) patent agents. In many foreign countries, especially European countries, it is common for individuals who meet a U.S. practitioner’s definition of a “patent agent” (i.e. a non-attorney technical specialist who is not a general attorney at law but is licensed to prepare and prosecute patent applications before the Patent Office), to be referred to in their respective foreign countries as  “patent attorneys.”  Indeed, virtually all patent attorneys in Europe have only a technical or scientific background and, with rare exceptions, have no legal training and are not members of the bar.