Before you choose a patent agent or attorney

Run this before you engage anyone.

MediumBefore filingFounderInventorStudent

Drafting quality is invisible at the time and decisive later. These questions surface the difference.

Tick anything that is true. Each tick opens a short note on why it matters. Nothing you tick is sent anywhere - it stays in this browser tab.

Are they a registered Indian patent agent?Only registered agents may practise before the Indian Patent Office.
If yes: Ask for the registration number and check it.
Do they work in your technical field?A drafter who does not understand the technology cannot find the inventive difference.
If yes: Ask what they have drafted in your area, in general terms.
Will they see the prior art before drafting claim 1?A specification drafted without the closest prior art anticipates nothing.
If yes: If searching is not part of the proposal, ask why.
Will they ask where the invention stops working?Boundary conditions are the amendments you will need later.
If yes: A drafter who does not ask this is drafting from your description alone.
How do they handle alternatives and fallback claims?The fallback ladder is what saves a patent when claim 1 falls.
If yes: Ask to see how a previous claim set was structured, at a general level.
Who actually writes the specification?Work is often delegated, which is fine if you know about it.
If yes: Ask, and ask who reviews it.
What is included, and what is billed separately?Filing, prosecution, extensions, hearings and renewals are frequently separate.
If yes: Get the whole lifecycle costed, not just the filing.
Who owns the docket, and what happens if you leave?Handovers are how deadlines get missed.
If yes: Agree in advance how the docket transfers, and keep your own copy of key dates.

The cheapest filing is rarely the cheapest patent.

Sources & further reading

The Patents Act, 1970 (consolidated to 1 August 2024) — Official IP India text

MediumMyth

Filing it myself is basically the same and much cheaper.

Filing is easy. Drafting is not. The document you file determines what you can claim, what you can amend to, and what the patent is eventually worth.

HighChecklist

Before you brief a patent drafter

A specification can only contain what the drafter was told. These are the things drafters most often are not told, and most often need.

During drafting

CriticalCriticality

Claim 1 describes your product instead of your invention

Claim 1 is the patent. If it recites the specific product you happened to build - your materials, your dimensions, your architecture - then a competitor only has to …

During draftingIntermediate

Not sure whether this applies to your invention?

The honest answer usually needs someone to look at your actual disclosure, your timeline and the prior art. That is a conversation, not an article.

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Educational guidance, not legal advice. This material is published by Ragulika IP for general education and information. It is not legal advice, it does not create a professional-client relationship, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Patentability, infringement, prosecution strategy and every other IP outcome turn on the specific facts and on the law and Patent Office practice as they stand at the time you act. Please take professional advice before making a decision, and read the underlying provision or judgment before relying on any point stated here.

Last reviewed by Ragulika IP on 2026-08-23. Indian patent law and Patent Office practice change; check the position before you rely on it.