A patent legal assistant performs administrative and research-related duties for attorneys. As a legal assistant, your role is to help prepare legal documents and patent applications, proofread them before filing, perform background research to provide lawyers and their clients with a list of options for possible avenues to pursue, whether it is to preserve a patent, file a new one, or assess whether a competitor has violated the clients’ patent rights. You typically maintain detailed records of a case and report to a paralegal or an attorney.