Anyone considering a career as a patent attorney?

Classico22

So in addition to law school, you only need to take the patent bar exam, correct? And what does USPTO stand for?

Also, because I'm in civil engineering, does that mean that I would only be able to handle patents regarding civil engineering? Because if thats the case then it doesn't sound like a wise background to have...

berned_you

You would take a state bar exam and the patent bar. That's all you need.

USPTO - US Patent and Trademark Office

You're generally correct with respect to you third question. I've never met a patent attorney with a civil engineering background.

Classico22

That sounds about right then. I spoke with a neighbor who is a former civil engineer and an attorney and he told me that he wished he knew that he "couldn't be a patent lawyer" without a mechanical or electrical engineering degree. What I think he meant now that I've gotten more info was that he could have been one with a civil background, but his options would have been much more severely limited than if he had a mechanical backround. Thank you!

Classico22

Also, with you having a mechanical engineering background (I believe I read that on one of your posts, correct me if I'm wrong) what are some specific examples of patents that you have handled?

Chronos

Mechanical engineering is a great background for a patent attorney. You have sex appeal to clients with hardly any knowledge of physics. The trouble is you need to be aggresive [and skilled] to get anything up for review in a 'timely' fashion, and filings are less 'secure' than you might hope/expect.

Classico22

What do you mean by your last sentence "The trouble is you need to be aggresive [and skilled] to get anything up for review in a 'timely' fashion, and filings are less 'secure' than you might hope/expect."?

aftershock

Would you say a BS in physics is a good and/or common background to have before pursuing patent law?

I've heard concerns about there being more lawyers than there are jobs. There seems to be competition for jobs and I've heard some people recommend not pursuing law school unless you're admitted to one that's very prestigious. Would you say these concerns are somewhat alleviated or inapplicable to patent law since you apparently need a scientific background to get into the field?

George Jones

I know someone who got an MS in physics, then got a law degree, and then became a patent lawyer. Also, I have recently been reading

http://ajp.aapt.org/resource/1/ajpias/v70/i3/p266_s1,

and it seems that when the paper was written, one of the authors was a student, and that this author is now a patent lawyer.

bwen

I have a BS in ChemE and 2 years of work experience, and I am seriously considering going to law school for patent law. Is my technical background going to hold me back from getting desirable jobs?

It seems ME and EE are the preferred engineering majors for patent law. And for something like ChemE, a MS/PHD is somewhat of a requirement.

tdey1618

I appreciate you taking time to answer questions in this thread. I've read through everything and most of my questions are answered. I'm trying to figure out if I would be suitable for a career in patent law. Either as an agent, or full-fledged patent attorney. Ideally, I'd be able to get one of those jobs where they pay for night law school.

I am a mechanical engineer. I just completed a graduate degree in mechanical engineering (specializing in energy technology) and bachelors in mechanical eng. and applied math & statistics.

However, I am lacking in the experience area. I have about a years experience, mainly in the MEP consulting and HVAC field.

I'm trying to vett myself for this career. I especially like the idea of being on the forefront of new inventions and not pigeon holding yourself into one particular field or discipline. I think that's my main fear of being a regular engineer.

My Question:
1) Should I go ahead, study for, and take the patent bar exam before getting a job. Would it help me in my job search?
2) What are my chances, with respect to my degrees and limited experience, as far getting a patent agent position sometime soon.
3) Is there any correlation between the patent bar and LSAT scores? Getting into a decent law school for me would be highly dependent on LSAT, since I hear they don't really take into account graduate study.

IPfan

I did my BSc. in Industrial Engineering and I am currently pursuing a law degree. I was wondering if it was possible for me to be able to practice as a patent attorney when I am finished with law school as the Industrial engineering degree that I did contained about 75% of the courses that the mechanical engineering degree contained. Do you think it is possible? If I am not able to...what would you suggest that I do? Sould I do a masters in some sort of engineering field to enhance my chances after law school?

hlobo

Hi dear, Thanks a lot for this post. I am currently on the verge of completing my PhD in chemistry from an Indian university. Being an Indian national, does it qualify me to apply for patent bar exam.
Another question is: Is there a requirement to have law degree to become patent attorney since this is a criteria in India.

Pkruse

This has been a very interesting and useful thread. After 35 years working many aspect of several engineering fields, I thought it might be fun to take early retirement and get a law degree. Both patent and product liability look attractive.

berned_you

Holy cow am I behind... Let me try to catch up on questions.

It's great foundation-wise but employers get a tad hung up on looking for engineering degrees. It may be a tad harder to find a job but it's definitely doable.

I have an industrial engineering background. I've worked on patents for cheese vats, truck covers, low sodium salt-substitutes, methods of making chains, casino games, snow plows, feed bin monitors, quick-connect connectors, self-tightening tire chains...

Unfortunately, there are tons of people graduating from law school with a patent focus who are patent bar eligible. It's difficult to find a job right now in any sort of law (but hardly impossible).

If you want to do mechanical engineering-type patent applications, which I'm sure you could handle, you're probably fine but it will be difficult to get work in the chemical field without an advanced chem degree.

I am an IE major. I believe was harder for me to find a job with an IE background but, clearly, not impossible. ME is more preferred, but not essential. I would not get an advanced IE degree. If you cannot find a job out of law school, go to the patent office and work as an examiner for a year or two. That will give you some great training and experience.

I am 99% certain there is no requirement that you be a US national to take the US Patent Bar Exam. You need a law degree to become a "patent attorney" in the US but a law degree is NOT required to become a "patent agent."

berned_you

1) Should I go ahead, study for, and take the patent bar exam before getting a job. Would it help me in my job search? Absolutely, this is a common strategy. Having your patent bar registration before job seeking shows you are knowledgeable, serious and ready to work.
2) What are my chances, with respect to my degrees and limited experience, as far getting a patent agent position sometime soon. Impossible to speculate. It's dependent on so many factors such as 1) where you're located; 2) your resume; 3) your personality; 4) networking and commitment to job searching, etc.
3) Is there any correlation between the patent bar and LSAT scores? Getting into a decent law school for me would be highly dependent on LSAT, since I hear they don't really take into account graduate study I don't expect there is any correlation. Those are two separate tests that test very different things in different ways. Plus, the patent bar is merely pass/fail.

Same-same

How well would a computer engineering or computer science degree work for a patent attorney? Would electrical engineering be significantly better?

berned_you

CE is preferred over CS (again, employers have some sort of obsession with engineers). EE is slightly better than CE and CS because there is simply a greater number of EE focused patent applications to be written. CE might be less and less desired in the future depending on how the In re Bilski case gets interpreted by the courts and Patent Office. It's complicated, but due to this court decision, it's harder to patent software and business methods. Do a little research on the case if you're curious. There's been a lot written about it because it's a big deal.