Foreign Outsourcing of Patent Preparation

According to an August 25, 2004 article in The Recorder, an Orland Park, Ill. manufacturer of telecom infrastructure equipment has cut back on its use of American outside counsel by sending some of its patent application work to a law firm in Wellington New Zealand. James Petelle, the company's secretary and vice president of law, says that outsourcing works particularly well because New Zealand's patent rules are similar to those in the United States. "We wouldn't be afraid to send anything to these guys," Petelle reportedly said. The article correctly notes that a licensed U.S. lawyer or registered patent agent is not needed merely to write a patent application, although only registered patent and agents are authorized to represent others before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.