A patent attorney works in the field of intellectual property rights at the interface between technical know-how and legal expertise. On top of their "technical education" in the fields of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, biotechnological engineering, chemistry, biology, physics etc., a German Patent Attorney is required to graduate in "law for patent attorneys" and to complete 26 months of internship within a firm or a patent department and eight-months of internship in the German Patent and Trademark Office as well as in the German Federal Patent Court. The eight months of internship are terminated with the final exams for German Patent Attorneys. European Patent Attorneys have to complete 36 months of internship in a firm or a patent department before taking the European Qualifying Examination. The scope of duties of a patent attorney is very broad and extends from transforming inventions into patent applications, conducting prosecution proceedings before the patent offices, defending patents, enforcing patents against third parties etc. Further areas of activity of a patent attorney are trademarks, designs, utility models and the German Employee Invention Act.