A paralegal is a person qualified through education and training to perform delegated legal work for which a lawyer is ultimately responsible. Paralegals are highly valuable members of a legal team, and they play key roles in the legal process. They have the skills to conduct factual and legal research, draft legal documents, communicate with clients, maintain records, and manage cases.
The paralegal vocation is a people-oriented profession. A successful paralegal must display exceptional organizational and analytical skills, communication skills, and interpersonal ?people? skills. They must have the necessary computer skills to maintain records and databases and retrieve them as required. Paralegals also play important role in the intellectual property domain. Intellectual property or IP is an umbrella term for various products of the human intellect that the law protects from unauthorized use. The four types of IP are copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. An IP paralegal helps lawyers with intellectual property litigation. They research patents, copyrights, and trademarks, and keep up with the legal developments for litigation purposes.
IP paralegal training is an important requirement for paralegal applicants to get the necessary skills and certifications for working in the paralegal field. Most law firms and legal institutions prefer applicants that own a paralegal degree. Once they obtain the degree and training, they can specialize in the area of intellectual property.
Here are few important factors that are concerned with the field of IP paralegal.
Educational Qualification
For becoming a paralegal, the candidate must have an associate degree or a certificate program degree. Associate degrees for paralegal studies are generally two-year programs. They can also acquire an equivalent combination of training, education, and experience to perform IP paralegal tasks in law offices, corporations, institutions, and government agencies. Candidates can also get a bachelor?s degree and complete a formal paralegal program to compete for paralegal jobs, once they graduate.
Certification Program
The two well-renowned paralegal firms that certify paralegals are NALA (National Association of Legal Assistants, and NFPA (National Federation of Paralegal Associations). While NFPA recognizes an associate degree, it also recommends getting a bachelor?s degree in paralegal studies. The candidates can also obtain paralegal certification from regional associations. Paralegal certification programs give additional leverage to candidates during job searching. It proves that the applicant is qualified for the job. Certifications also give them necessary exposure to gain knowledge about the technologies, skills, and abilities to perform the IP paralegal tasks. It also speaks of their employability. Some of the National certification programs that are available for the candidates are The Paralegal Core Competencies Exam (PCCE) by NFPA, the Certified Paralegal/Certified Legal Assistant (CP/CLA) by NALA, and the Professional Paralegal (PP) exam by Association for Legal Professionals (NALS).
Gain Experience
Once the candidate becomes a certified paralegal, they need to gain substantial experience in the field. To get their hands-on experience, they must practice in this field. They need to look around for opportunities to work with IP cases and enhance their IP knowledge. Most of the firms before employing paralegals, look for candidates who have experienced between 1 to 5 years. Nothing can substitute experience, as it is the method through which the candidate can learn the necessary dynamics about the IP paralegal domain operates.
Duties
An IP paralegal usually works with one or two attorneys, and they create a feasible plan of action. They work with clients to obtain patents, trademarks, or copyrights. An IP paralegal also assists the clients to prepare a patent application and identify if the invention is patentable. They can also file requests for reconsideration if USPTO requests for additional information or rejects an application. Hence, they perform the task of filing applications and ensuring their completion. They can carry out extensive patent searches and freedom to searches as assigned by the attorneys. IP paralegals help clients to file IP applications, track the current status, and record their transfer or termination documents. They also carry out communication with the clients, maintain and generate docket reports for attorneys, create status reports, coordinate with clients and provide reports, and perform various secretarial work and office oversight duties.
Skills
An IP paralegal must have the right attributes to perform paralegal tasks efficiently. They must be detail-oriented, and possess oral and written communication skills. It is required for communicating with the clients and drafting emails, applications, records, summaries, and more. They must have strong research skills to investigate, analyze, and summarize the facts. Analytical skills enable them to assist the attorneys in identifying the problem and make the necessary developments in the project. They should be able to multitask, as IP litigation is a challenging field. Even though paralegals can?t perform law, they must possess the necessary skills for helping patent attorneys and clients. Based on client?s requirements, they must customize their service to provide the desired solution.
To Conclude:
Paralegals must take the points mentioned above to assist lawyers in various IP legal activities. With the necessary qualifications, training, and certifications, they can perform various resource-intensive and critical tasks in the domain of intellectual property litigation.
