Is Gaining Work Experience in Patent Law Beneficial for an Engineering Career?

[Chemist125]

I'm coming to the end of my chemistry degree (in the UK) and I've been looking into applying for jobs as a trainee patent attorney. I'm hoping that someone here can give me some valuable advice. Am I a suitable candidate? What's the competition like?

- My degree is a BSc in Chemistry, this has included a year working for a German chemical company in R&D (lab work, which I have really come to hate).

The options availabe to me now are:

1) Get a Masters degree ( 1 year, costs me at least £7k/year including living expenses).
2) Get a PhD (3 years, paid ~ £15k/year) for which I don't need a Masters degree, BSc+experience is fine.
3) Start applying for trainee patent attorney jobs - these are very scarce, and I imagine that competition is extremely high.

Although I will have a 1st Class degree, it's not from a particularly good university. I speak some German, and I have the opportunity this summer to go to Germany for 3-4 months (an internship, £600/month) and become fully fluent. Am I right in saying that German/French language skills are a bonus?

I have almost no money, and I don't particularly want to put myself into more debt just to study for a Masters degree.

Any advice welcomed.

 

[jemb]

Hi, I'm an undergrad electrical and mechanical engineer going into third year.

I recently contacted a local I.P. law firm about doing some work experience with them. They said that although they hadn't ever taken on students at that office before they would be interested in talking to me about it and that I should send my CV as a first step.

I'm hoping to get a bit of advice from anyone in IP law or who knows the field about how useful experience in this area would be at this point in my education, and how valuable t will be for when I apply for jobs, not just in patent law offices but in engineering more generally, further down the line.

It seems like intellectual property is a good career move if I can get in but from what I've heard its competitive, and here in the UK anyway is dominated by ex-oxbridge types.

Any thoughts?