Electrical engineering covers the study, technical development and production technology of appliances or processes that require electrical energy to function. It includes such fields as electrical components, electrical machinery and the generation of energy (heavy current engineering) as well as electronics, instrumentation and control engineering, telecommunications, computer technology and computer engineering (weak current engineering). Almost every modern technical object includes at least some aspect of electrical engineering, which makes it one of the most diversified and promising fields of technology.

To obtain maximum protection for electrical engineering inventions the inventive idea must be formulated with a degree of abstraction that will leave competitors no freedom to operate around the invention. An experienced attorney will therefore draft the application in a way that lies somewhere between the general idea (e.g. improvement of a procedure) and its actual embodiment (e.g. an electronic circuit). This will differentiate the invention from any prior art held against it by the examiner, thus improving the prospects of a patent being granted, but at the same time give competitors no room for manoeuvre.