What will I do as a patent examiner?

Patent examiners analyse patent applications – written reports with diagrams – to decide whether to grant a patent. A patent is an exclusive right given to an inventor to ensure that a new technological product, process or solution cannot be made, sold, used or distributed without the inventor’s consent. The first stage in patent examination involves studying the application to ensure it meets certain criteria (for example, that it is in fact a single invention rather than a combination of inventions) and then comparing it with documents to ascertain that it is ‘new and inventive’. This can be known as a ‘search’ procedure or ‘preliminary examination’. Findings are communicated to the patent applicant or, more often, their patent attorney.

Once the search has been carried out, a ‘substantive examination’ is completed to decide whether to grant the patent. In the European Patent Office, this is done by a panel of three examiners (including the examiner who completed the initial search). If the patent is not granted, the examiner will write a report for the patent agent. If a patent is granted, it can be opposed by interested third parties (usually the patent holder’s competitors) and patent examiners will be involved in these opposition procedures.

On a day-to-day basis, patent examiners consult legal and technical documents, use their judgement and write reports. Communicating with colleagues in other offices and negotiating with patent attorneys and applicants are key elements of the job.