A patent attorney is a lawyer with expertise in intellectual property law pertaining to securing and protecting an inventors property rights. They specialize in patents, which are granted to inventors of unique, useful, and non-obvious inventions. Patent attorneys have passed the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent agent registration examination and have expertise in patent law. They are different from patent agents and intellectual property attorneys because, unlike agents, they must pass the bar exam in at least one state or territory in the U.S., and unlike IP attorneys, they specialize in patents, not other forms of intellectual property broadly. Patent attorneys are experts in preparing and filing patent applications and representing clients in court for patent-related matters such as infringement, licensing, and re-examination. They must also be experts in one or more technical areas important to understanding a clients inventions, such as biotechnology or computer science. Patent attorneys can also provide business advice and intellectual property protection, as they regularly deal with other inventors and other technical fields and can counsel clients on both the strength of their patent and how they can maximize the benefit of their invention.