Legal Eagles Go East

Software engineers who have noticed the alarming trend of programming jobs headed to Bangalore, Taipei, and Shanghai are now in interesting company. I've met a number of companies over the last month that have outsourced their patent work to firms that use lawyers in India, trained in U.S. Patent Law. The difference? A highly trained, India-based patent attorney, sporting technical degrees and up-to-date on U.S. and international patent law, will file patents for U.S. $2,000 - 4,000, effectively one-fifth of the cost of a local Silicon-Valley firm. Entrepreneurs, take note...