How to become a patent attorney?

A patent attorney is most often an engineer or lawyer who declares legal and technical assistance for legal and natural persons and organizational units in matters of industrial property protection. Read how to set up a business step by step and become a patent attorney!

Characteristics of the activity of a patent attorney

Patent attorney is a profession of public trust and relies on assistance to establish industrial property protection. It provides legal and technical assistance services.

His tasks include, first of all:

• obtaining, exercising, investigating or maintaining industrial property rights, in particular taking into account inventions, utility and industrial models, trademarks or trade names,

• preventing and combating unfair competition,

• providing legal advice and legal consultations,

• drawing up legal opinions, examining items subject to industrial property protection, legal and procedural representation,

• preparation of technical descriptions,

• conducting searches for the state of the art.

Patent attorney - prerequisites

A person wishing to become a patent attorney must:

• be a citizen of Poland,

• have legal capacity and fully enjoy public rights,

• guarantee reliable performance of the profession

• have an intact, good reputation

• complete higher education (technical or legal)

The fulfillment of the above-mentioned conditions entitles the patent candidate to apply for admission to the attorney's apprenticeship. After completing the application and passing the final examination, the patent attorney may apply to be entered on the list of patent attorneys, and also receives a certificate confirming the right to practice.

The details of the requirements for the profession of patent attorney are set out in Art. 19 of the Patent Attorneys Act.

Permissible forms of running a patent attorney's activity

A patent attorney usually works in a patent office or for a specific employer. There are no contraindications for him to perform his tasks on the basis of a civil law contract. If he enters into an employment relationship, he reports to the head of the organizational unit, and if this unit employs more than two ombudsmen, one of them becomes the group's coordinator.

The activity of a patent attorney conducted in the form of a patent office may take various legal forms. From sole proprietorship, through civil partnerships and partnerships, and ending with capital companies.

A patent office may be run by an advocate:

1. individually as part of a business activity;

2. as part of a civil partnership or general partnership;

3. as part of a partner company;

4. as part of a limited partnership or limited joint-stock partnership;

5. as part of a limited liability company or a joint-stock company, if certain conditions are met:

• the majority of shares are owned by patent attorneys,

• the majority of votes in the shareholders' meeting and supervisory bodies are vested in patent attorneys,

• the majority of the management board members are patent attorneys,

• the sale of shares or stocks or the establishment of a pledge on them requires an authorization granted by the company's management board,

• only registered shares are issued in a joint-stock company.

Important! A patent office may be established and run when at least half of the partners in a civil partnership or general partnership, partners in a partnership or general partners in a limited partnership or limited joint-stock partnership are patent attorneys.

How to set up a patent attorney

One-man activity of a patent attorney

A patent attorney may run his business as a sole trader. If he chooses this form, he should complete the CEIDG-1 form and submit it electronically or traditionally to the Central Register and Information on Economic Activity.

A sole proprietorship means that the company is run alone, but the name does not refer to employees - the entrepreneur has the opportunity to hire. Setting up a sole proprietorship does not require initial capital, and funds for setting up a business can be obtained as de minimis aid.

Civil law partnership of patent attorneys

A civil law partnership may be established by at least two people, this form of business activity is characterized by no legal personality. Partners, unlike a limited liability company, are responsible for liabilities with their own property. Civil law law is regulated by the Civil Code. As in the case of sole proprietorship - the company is registered on the CEIDG-1 form.

Patent attorney and general partnership

A general partnership is a type of partnership - it can be established by natural and legal persons. If this form of business is chosen, the partners are jointly and severally liable with all their assets. The obligation of the partners of a general partnership is to make contributions specified in the partnership agreement. In the case of a general partnership, as in the case of sole proprietorship, no minimum share capital is required.

Patent attorney and limited partnership

A limited partnership is made up of at least two partners, in which one is a limited partner - is responsible for the partnership's obligations only up to the limited liability amount, and the other is a general partner - is responsible for the obligations of the partnership with all his assets. The limited partnership agreement is concluded in the form of a notarial deed. The profit generated by the company is distributed among the partners. The rules of division are included in the previously prepared contract. In the case of a limited partnership, no share capital is required.

Patent attorney and a limited liability company

This form of business activity is most often chosen among commercial companies. Its founders may be natural or legal persons. Private Limited company. unlike a civil law partnership, it has legal personality. Limited Liability Company Agreement must be drawn up in the form of a notarial deed, as in the case of a limited partnership. As a rule, shareholders are not responsible for the liabilities (there is only economic risk related to the investment in the company). The minimum value of the required share capital is PLN 5,000.

Patent attorney and a joint-stock company

A joint-stock company is a form of business that is characterized by the greatest expansion and legal protection. Its shareholders are shareholders who hold a certain number of shares entitling them to receive a designated part of the dividend. The dividend is the amount to be distributed among the shareholders by a resolution of the general meeting. It is responsible for the obligations of a joint stock company with all its assets, the shareholders are not liable for the obligations of the company. This type of activity is associated with the obligation to keep full accounting.

If you decide to set up a joint-stock company, a minimum capital of PLN 100,000 is required.

PKD designation for the activity of a patent attorney

A company run by a patent attorney should be classified as Legal activity, i.e. code PKD 69.10.Z.

The best form of taxation for the activity of a patent attorney

As a rule, a patent attorney may not settle operating revenues with a flat-rate form of taxation - that is, with a flat-rate tax on recorded revenues and with a tax deduction card. Therefore, it may choose taxation on general principles or taxation with a flat tax.

General rules and the patent attorney

If the patent attorney in the year of establishing the business activity taxed income in accordance with the tax scale, as a rule, he is not required to submit a declaration to the tax office on the choice of this form for the next year.

Tax scale:

The basis for calculating the tax in PLN		The tax is
Above	Down
	85528	18% minus the amount reducing the tax PLN 556 02gr
85528		PLN 14,839 02gr + 32% of the surplus over PLN 85,528

 

The advantages of taxation under general rules include the fact that the taxpayer does not pay tax when he does not earn income or when his income does not exceed PLN 3091, moreover, the taxpayer has the option of deducting tax deductible costs, he can take advantage of tax reliefs and settle accounts together with the spouse.

The downside of taxing this activity is the fact that if the patent attorney achieves higher income (exceeds the second tax threshold), he has to tax the activity at a rate that is already 32%. When choosing this form of settlement, you should remember about the necessity to keep a book of revenues and expenses or accounting books.

Flat tax and patent attorney

The flat tax is characterized by the fact that the income is taxed at a fixed rate of 19%. It is very profitable if the entrepreneur exceeds the second tax threshold and would have to pay tax in the amount of 32% when taxing the activity according to general rules. When deciding on this form of taxation, it should be remembered that it will not be possible to take advantage of tax reliefs and joint settlement with a spouse.

Patent office - with or without VAT?

In the event that the entrepreneur intends to perform activities for other VAT payers or in the event that he intends to achieve high turnover from the conducted activity, he should consider registering himself as a VAT taxpayer. This has the benefit of being able to deduct VAT on purchase invoices.

The services of a patent office, as a rule, are subject to a tax of 23% VAT.

Start a free 30-day trial period with no strings attached!

Patent office - social security contributions

After reporting his activity to CEIDG, the patent attorney is obliged to report himself to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) insurance. For this purpose, he / she completes the ZUS ZUA form, when he is subject to social insurance and health insurance, or ZUS ZZA, when he is only subject to health insurance, because social insurance is covered by full-time work.

Entrepreneurs who start to operate can take advantage of preferential ZUS contributions for a full 24 months.

Patent attorney and company account

The patent attorney is not obliged to set up a separate company account, the provisions do not indicate specific regulations in this matter. An entrepreneur may use his private account as long as he is its sole owner (entrepreneurs who have a joint account, e.g. with their spouse, cannot allocate it for settlements related to their business). However, making and accepting payments should be made through the entrepreneur's business account whenever:

• a party to the transaction from which the payment results is another entity conducting business activity

• the one-off transaction value, regardless of the number of resulting payments, exceeds the equivalent of EUR 15,000.

Marketing for a patent attorney

In order to plan an effective marketing strategy for a patent attorney, you need to think about the answers to the following questions:

1. Who am I addressing my offer to?

2. What goals do I want to achieve?

3. What distinguishes me from other companies?

4. What is my company the best at?

At the beginning, the entrepreneur can order a printing house to prepare business cards. Quite often, customers of various service outlets accidentally take business cards that are on the counter. Second, it is important to start your own website.