Anyone who likes police or legal fiction will probably have noticed that the U.K. uses the term solicitor where the U.S. uses the term attorney. There is, however, one instance where the U.K. does use the term attorney and that is with regards to patents. To understand why this is, it is helpful to have a look at legal titles and what they mean.
任何喜欢警察或法律小说的人都可能已经注意到，英国使用“solicitor”一词，而美国使用“attorney”一词。然而，有一个例子表明，英国确实使用了“attorney”一词，这与专利有关。为了理解这一点，了解一下法律头衔及其含义是很有帮助的。
Lawyer
The term lawyer does not have a specific, legal meaning in the UK, although it is routinely used to describe a member of the legal profession.
“lawyer”一词在英国没有具体的法律含义，尽管它通常用于称呼法律职业从业人员。
Solicitor
The word “solicitor” derives from the Middle French word “solicitor”. It is also related to the verb “to solicit” which essentially means to attempt to obtain something by persuasion, either for oneself or for another party. This is essentially what solicitors do today. They use their training in and experience of law to advise and guide their clients and help them to achieve their aims. In the event that a solicitor’s client needs to take a case to court, the solicitor will typically instruct a barrister to represent the solicitor’s client in court. The solicitor will usually act as an intermediary between their client and the barrister who presents the case in court.
“solicitor”一词源自中古法语中的“solicitor”。它还与动词“to solicit”有关，后者本质上意味着试图通过说服获得某物，无论是为自己还是为另一方。这基本上就是律师今天所做的。他们利用自己的法律培训和经验为客户提供建议和指导，帮助他们实现目标。如果solicitor的客户需要将案件提交法庭，solicitor通常会指示一名大律师在法庭上代表solicitor的客户。solicitor通常会在他们的当事人和出庭的大律师之间充当中间人。
Barrister
As indicated in the previous paragraph, a barrister is a legal professional who presents cases in open court. In Scotland the equivalent of a barrister is an advocate.
如前一段所述，barrister大律师是在公开法庭上陈述案件的法律专业人员。在苏格兰，与barrister相当的是advocate。
Attorney
The word “attorney” also derives from Middle French, in this case from the word “attorney”, literally this was a person to whom one turned and developed the meaning of an appointed person. Specifically it came to refer to a person who was appointed to represent the interests of another party. If this sounds similar to the work of a solicitor, that’s because it is. In fact up until the close of the 19th century attorneys and solicitors were essentially two branches of the same profession. Attorneys however, were very much perceived as the “poor relations” of solicitors. Attorneys practised in the common law courts, whereas solicitors practised in the courts of chancery (hence Chancery Lane in London). Solicitors also tended to represent the more wealthy, in particular owners of landed estates, whereas attorneys worked on the lower end of the social scale. By the time of the Court of Judicature Act of 1873, the term attorney had acquired such negative connotations that it was effectively abolished and for the most part attorneys adopted the title of solicitors. The word attorney, however, clung on with the specific meaning of someone who was legally empowered to act on behalf of another party. While attorneys can be legally trained, they do not have to be. For example, older people may choose to create a document giving power of attorney to a younger relative in the event that they are no longer able to take decisions for themselves. The younger relative would then have the power to act on behalf of the older person.
“attorney”一词也来源于中古法语，在本案中来自“attorney”，准确的说，这是指一个人，别人有求于他，后面就出现了被委托人的含义。具体来说，它是指被任命代表另一方利益的人。如果这听起来与solicitor,的工作相似，那是因为事实上，直到19世纪末，attorneys和solicitors基本上是同一职业的两个分支。然而，attorneys被认为是“不受青睐”的solicitors。attorneys在普通法法院执业，而solicitors则在高等法院（即伦敦的大法官巷）执业。solicitors也倾向于代表更富有的人，特别是地产所有者，而attorneys则在社会阶层的低端工作。到1873年《司法法院法》颁布时，attorney一词已经获得了如此负面的含义，以至于它被有效地废除，并且在很大程度上，attorneys采用了solicitors的头衔。然而，“attorney”一词仍然保留着法律授权代表另一方行事的人的特定含义。虽然attorneys可以接受法律培训，但他们不一定要接受。例如，老年人可能会选择创建一份文件，在他们不再能够自己做出决定的情况下，向年轻的亲属授予代理权。年轻的亲属将有权代表老年人行事。
Why Patent Attorney Rather Than Patent Solicitor?
The term “Patent Attorney” is reserved under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to those who are on the register of patent attorneys. “European Patent Attorney” means a person on the list of professional representatives maintained by the European Patent Office. In each case, entry on to the register or list is by passing the qualifying examinations. Patent attorneys are typically maths, science or engineering graduates who then undertake on-the-job and academic training in patent law in order to qualify as patent attorneys.
根据1988年《版权、外观设计和专利法》，“Patent Attorney”一词保留给专利代理人登记簿上的人员。“European Patent Attorney”是指欧洲专利局保留的专业代表名单上的人员。在每种情况下，通过资格考试即可进入名册或名单。专利律师通常是数学、科学或工程专业的毕业生，然后接受专利法的在职和学术培训，以获得专利律师资格。
In addition to obtaining and renewing patents, patent attorneys can also take action to resolve instances of patent infringement. In spite of their job title, patent attorneys can often provide a broader range of assistance with regard to claiming and enforcing intellectual property, for example they may have expertise in the fields of copyrights and trademarks. Some solicitors with suitable scientific or technical as well as legal qualifications specialise in patent matters and may sometimes be referred to as “Patent Solicitors”, although there is no official status for this. They specialise in patent litigation, and may often work closely with patent attorneys.
除了获得和更新专利，专利律师还可以采取行动解决专利侵权案件。尽管他们的职称不同，专利律师通常可以在主张和执行知识产权方面提供更广泛的帮助，例如，他们可能在版权和商标领域拥有专业知识。一些具有适当科学或技术以及法律资格的solictors专门从事专利事务，有时可能被称为“Patent Solicitors”，尽管没有这个官方身份。他们专门从事专利诉讼，可能经常与专利律师密切合作。