Have you heard the one about the lawyer whos also a scientist? At the Spokane law firm Wells St. John PS, thats not a joke. Its reality.


Wells St. John, a specialty law firm here, employs two lawyers with doctoral degrees in biochemistryDavid Latwesen, a principal there, and Jennifer Taylor, a senior associate. The two work with inventors in the biotechnology field, helping them to apply for patents to protect a wide range of inventions.


Latwesen and Taylors careers allow them to stay on top of their fieldof science, that iswhile continuously honing their legal skills.


I was attracted to this because rather than being focused on one project, I got to be on the cutting edge of science all the time, Taylor says. It seemed like a fast-paced job that Id never get tired of. It turns out that thats true.


Citing proprietary concerns, the lawyers decline to talk in specifics about their clients inventions. They say, though, that their clients range from small-time farmers with new varieties of fruits to scientists whove discovered new DNA sequences to large companies that have developed new drugs or laboratory equipment.


All told, Wells St. John has 12 lawyers, each with a doctorate in a field other than law. In fact, to practice patent law, attorneys must be either an engineer or a scientist, Latwesen says. Because much of the firms work focuses on protecting mechanical inventions, most of its lawyers have doctorates in engineering, while others have degrees in chemistry, Latwesen says.


About 90 percent of the firms biotechnology patent work comes from outside of the Spokane area, Latwesen says. Here, its clients include The Heart Institute of Spokane; Eastern Washington University; New Jersey-based Honeywell International Inc.s operation here, and other operations in other parts of the country; Micron Technology Inc., of Boise; plus the Richland, Wash., offices of the Ohio-based Battelle Memorial Institute.


About 95 percent of Latwesen and Taylors clients are companies rather than independent inventors, Latwesen says.


It costs an inventor about $8,000 to $15,000 in attorneys fees to have a biotechnology-related patent application filed, which is a more expensive range than the cost when an invention is mechanical in nature, he says. Such billings are probably typical for most law firms, including Wells St. John, Latwesen says.


The inventions tend to be relatively complex and difficult to describe to the patent office, as compared to mechanical cases, he says.


The applicant also must pay $500 to $1,500 in government fees during the application process, Latwesen says.


The process


The patent-application process takes about three years to get through.


The lawyers first steps in the process involve determining what is new and not obvious about an invention. Not obvious means the invention cant be something that someone with the same general expertise as the inventor could have created with minimal effort. For example, an inventor cant expect to receive a patent simply for changing the color of a product or for making a few insignificant changes.


There must be some link to making this product better than it was before, Latwesen says.


Once the exclusivity and value of an invention is determined, the lawyers complete the patent application.


Its more like writing a research paper than filling out a form, Latwesen says. Were writing a full explanation of how it works.


In exchange for that information, the government grants the inventorif the patent is approved20 years of full exclusive rights to that invention.


Latwesen and Taylor each work on two to five new patent applications a month, and manage 15 to 20 pending patent applications.


The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office usually takes about a year and a half to respond to an application. After that, the lawyers use their negotiating skills as they play a give-and-take game with the federal agency over the level of protection that it will give an invention.


Taylor says clients are often unaware that if they make the details of their invention public, either through a newspaper or professional journal article or other means, they have only one year to apply for a patent before their invention is considered general information and ineligible for a patent.


Taylor, who earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry at Washington State University and her law degree at the University of Idaho, says the arduous and time-consuming patent process doesnt usually deter inventors, because the thrill of their discovery fuels them.


I love seeing the look on their faces when theyre talking about their inventions, especially when you see the look they get when they think of something new right when youre talking to them, she says.


Latwesen, who earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry at Oregon State University and his law degree at Gonzaga University, says finding lawyers with expertise such as his and Taylors was rare 10 years ago, but the biotechnology-patent law combination has become more common.


Its one of those niches thats starting to open up, he says. People are seeing that theres a need for it, so theyre specializing in those areas and filling those positions.


Latwesen expects to see a growing need for lawyers, including patent lawyers, who have biotechnology expertise, particularly with the rapid pace of medical and agricultural advances.


Biotechnology-related businesses could flourish here, he contends, if the tax structure and economic factorssuch as incentives, the cost of the workforce, the cost of industrial space, and other factorswere more comparable with what some other cities offer. The Spokane areas climate, recreational opportunities, uncongested traffic flow, and the presence of universities and research institutions here could be a significant draw to persons involved in the start-up of new biotechnology-related businesses, he says.


Latwesen adds, though, The relative mobility of starting biotechnology business means that owners of the businesses can compare Spokane to numerous other locations across the country in choosing destinations for their businesses.


In addition to work in patent law, Wells St. John also offers legal services in the copyright and trademark branches of law. All of the firms attorneys are registered before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, qualifying them to practice in any of the three areas, Latwesen says. While several of Wells St. Johns attorneys handle significant amounts of copyright and trademark work, in addition to patent work, Latwesen and Taylor work primarily in the area of patent law due to the high demand for our services in this area at the present time, Latwesen says.


Trademarks are brand names for products or services that businesses register with either the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or their states secretary of states offices. Wells St. Johns attorneys can investigate for clients whether a trademark is being used somewhere in the U.S. and complete the trademark application process with clients.


Copyrights protect the rights of authors and artists work, such as writings, photographs, plays, videos, and computer software. To help enforce a copyright, an author or artist can have his or her work registered with the Library of Congress. Wells St. Johns attorneys help clients protect their rights to their work.


The firms roots go back to 1920, when a patent agent named Herbert Smith started an office in Spokane, Latwesen says. The office became a law firm in the 1945, when Greek Wells, a lawyer and Idaho native, joined the staff. The name St. John was added to the firms letterhead when Richard St. John became a partner in 1959. Other names were added during the last 44 years, but the firm recently went back to simply Wells St. John.