In the legal world, prosecution generally refers to the plaintiff’s side of litigation. However, patent prosecution is the process of writing and filing a patent application and pursuing protection for the patent application with the patent office. Patent prosecution is very different from litigation, so the use of the term is often confusing to people not familiar with patent lingo. If you are looking for a lawyer to sue another party for violating your patent rights, you are looking for a patent litigator. However, if you are looking for a patent attorney to help you develop an intellectual property protection strategy, including preparing and filing patent applications with the patent office, you are looking for a patent prosecutor. Patent litigators are not required to have a technical background, nor are they required to be licensed to practice in front of the patent office. Patent prosecution lawyers must both be licensed to practice law as well as licensed to practice in front of the patent office.