>>462445>prove that he cannot find a Brazilian that fits the job.That's easy, since legally, only a U.S. citizen can do the job when outside the U.S. One of those little bar association rules. Every country is the same way; I can't go to Brazil and be a Brazilian patent attorney -- I can only be a U.S. patent attorney who happens to work in Brazil, helping Brazilian clients.
Portuguese, I know two phrases. Learning the language isn't the hard part; three years of law school plus four years of a science or engineering undergrad plus passing two bar exams is the hard part. :-)
>what would you do if you had to protect a patent from one of these guys?That's a surprisingly relevant question. Patents are national in scope. They'd be fighting me in a U.S. federal court, not in a running gun battle on the streets of Rio. They'd be on MY turf, and good luck with that. :-)
That said, my role is less on the litigation side (although I've consulted on that -- design-around and opinion work) and more on what is called the "prosecution" side -- actually obtaining a patent. (I've already worked in the field, incidentally. I'm not a 25yo who went straight through school.)