Man has been inventing ever since he began using his intellect millions of years ago. The first tools, making fire, the wheel, music and a million other things must have surfaced in some form or the other through the machinations of the miracle called the human brain.

In an ideal world where people respected each other's rights and respected each other's property, both tangible and intangible, patent attorney jobs and intellectual property attorney jobs would not exist.

Unfortunately however, such an idyllic world is inconceivable and every year US courts are flooded with cases of patent infringements. Today inventions have taken on a more modern technological turn. Growing technology finds thousands of inventions being made on a daily basis and the need to protect them from conniving people marketing them as their own and depriving the inventor of the credit and financial benefits is a growing menace that has made the need for patent attorneys and lawyers greater than before.

What does a patent lawyer's job entail? They have to protect the invention against emulators, people who steal the information and try to pass it off as their own. The patent attorney's job is to translate the fundamental nature of the innovative product into specific patent claims and help define and determine the scale of protection that the invention needs or merits.

The first thing that a patent attorney must determine when an individual seeks his assistance in patenting his pioneering work is to ensure that it is indeed novel and the first of its kind. Only after the attorney is convinced of the scientific and legal accuracy of the inventor's claims can he or she prepare a patent application.

Now comes the part, why patent law jobs are a rewarding career option? The patent lawyer has to use his expertise, knowledge of the laws, rules, regulations and procedures of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO and work with them, answering their queries, satisfying their reservations and proving beyond doubt that the work is original and merits being patented. Following this interaction with USPTO and gaining approval for the invention, the patent attorney also licenses the patent and is fully prepared to face legal challenges should there be any patent infringements.

It is not that only inventions that are tangible and have a physical form can be patented. There are many intangible properties that lack physical parameters yet are valuable assets to their founders and like tangible property, can be purchased, put on the market, certified, traded or even bequeathed to children. Even they need to be protected from dishonest elements.

An intellectual property Attorney's job is to safeguard his client's intellectual property, which includes patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and confidential information. How lucrative it would be if people could steal the formula for popular colas or access details about surveys that companies have spent a great of effort and money upon? These are all valuable assets and need to be protected and hence the need for an intellectual property attorney.

LawCrossing is a site where you can browse thousands of patent lawyer jobs and patent attorney jobs in locations of your choice. It also has a world of information on what this job entails and helps instruct you in making an educated and well-informed choice.