AMom2

My husband applied for a patent (through an attorney) 3-4 years ago and has not received an answer from the patent office.

Also, oddly, my son's Science Fair project has shown up a very recent issue of a magazine. He has never applied for a patent for it, because it is very expensive. Do you have any suggestions for students who do engineering projects for Science Fairs?

Would it be costly to apply for a patent for a protein he has researched?

dadofsam

Saxonthebeach: Some engineers can make good patent lawyers, some can't. likewise for other scientific disciplines. One must have a scientific or engineering degree, or a substantial amount of coursework in such subjects, in order to qualify for becoming a patent attorney. One must also be able to understand the technology involved in the patents handled, and finally one must be able to be satisifed with dealing with legal as much as technical issues, and with not carrying out any real engineering.

Amom2: if your H's invention is in electronics or Internet processing, I'm afraid that the patent office has about a four-year backlog in getting to the examination. If it's in other technology, the backlog is less. Some of that information is posted on the PTO website, uspto.gov.

I don't wish to give cost estimates for filing a particular patent application on this board. As far as science fair inventions are concerned, they are in general as patentable as any others. The question, as with most inventions, is whether the cost of a patent application would be worth it. The answer may be in terms of possible income from selling or licensing the patent, or it may lie in terms of satisfaction that one has obtained a patent. The value, as with the beauty, is in the eye (or pocketbook) of the beholder.

hokiemob

Hi dadofsam,

Ive read through all your posts and they are very informative. I am currently in law school at Franklin Pierce and I am doing very well (top 5%). I came to FP for their IP program. My issue right now is that I want to work in my home state of NC. FP has a good placement record when it comes to IP students. My issue is I am not sure if i will really like IP law once I get into the heart of the subject during my 2L year. So right now I am considering trying to transfer to UNC law school. I know if I want to stay in IP I should probably stay at FP. But if I dont like IP then UNC would be a better choice. So I was wondering if you could give me more insight into the daily life of a patent attorney. Anything that will give me a better idea of what i am getting into. If it is of any significance, my technical degree is in computer science. Does this mean that I will be examining code a lot, etc....

Thank you very much!!

dadofsam

A day in the life... Well, the day would vary a bit depending on whether you were employed as a patent attorney or in IP litigation, at a company or at a law firm. But I'll try to summarize anyway.

If you will be working as a straight patent attorney, with a CS degree you probably would be working on patents in information technology in general, computer software applications, Internet-related inventions, and maybe even hardware. That would depend on how much general engineering you had, as well as on the products of your employer (if at a company) or of clients handled by your law firm.

If in-house you woud be meeting with inventors, attending R&D meetings, writing up patent applications and "prosecuting" thenm., i.e., dealing with actions by patent offices in the US and perhaps other countries, in order to get patents on the applications that have been written.

If you are a patent prosecutor at a law firm you normally would not be attending R&D meetings and your direct discussions with inventors woulld be much less frequent. However, you might have the opportunity to work on some of the hottest new hi-tech inventions, since most likely you will be working for multiple clients.

In either function you also will eventually be spending some time evaluating patents of competitors and assessing your company's or clients' products for possible patent infringement.

If you are engaged in patent litigation you will not be writing or prosecuting patent applications or meeting with inventors but will be assessing the validity of patents, whether there is an infringement, and the strategies for litigating cases you will be working on. In the beginning, however, you will be doing a lot of drudge-type work such as reviewing documents and otherwise working on discovery issues, i.e finding out information about the other side's case and situation while dealing with their activities to learn about yours.

futurenyustudent

4 YEARS? The federal government should maybe patent backlog-creating technology. Since they seem to be so good at creating them.

Marines920

Hey - I'm currently majoring in Industrial Engineering. I know my major qualifies me to take the Patent Bar, but I'm just curious to how difficult it would be for me. I know Industrial Engineering isn't as technical as other engineering disciplines, but since I meet the requirements to take the Patent Bar, would I have as good a chance at passing? Would an Industrial Engineering Patent Attorney be less desirable for hiring? (please no imaginary jokes)

Thanks!

dadofsam

Marines920: A degree in industrial engineering will make you eligible for the patent bar and provides a good background for some jobs in patents. However, the Patent Bar exam has nothing to do with any type of engineering. It is an exam in the rules and practices of the US Patent & Trademark Office and in drafting and working with patent applications in general. In order to pass it, you'll have to learn about those. Self-study will get you part of the way but in general I strongly recommend anyone taking that exam to first take a review course. There are several of them given; they take 5-7 days each.

grm024

I have 2 general questions about IP/Patent law that hopefully can be answered here.
1. Do most people go right to law school after getting a graduate degree (i.e MS)? Is working at a corporate lab prior to going to law school better or do many people just go straight for law school?
2. I've been lightly perusing job listings online and it seems that most IP Attorney jobs (at a pharma company, for example) require some experience (2-5 yr). How does one get experience in the field if all jobs require some experience to start with?

Thanks!

cartera45

Many in house positions, as with pharma companies, require experience. They don't have the time or manpower to train. That experience typically comes from law firms. Additionally, the jobs you see advertised are for experienced attorneys, even with law firms. Firms typically do not advertise for entry level positions - they recruit from the law schools for these.

dadofsam

Some people go to law school right after college or graduate school; some work first. In my opinion one shouldn't be going to law school unless one is pretty certain one wishes to be a lawyer, and some people take some time to figure out if that's what they want.

As far as entry-level positions there have historically been a few companies that will take newly-minted patent attorneys and train them, and a much larger number that preferred not to do that. Generally patent attorneys get their training (a) in the Federal government, either as a patent examiner or as a patent attorney in a government agency, (b) in a larger IP law firm or (c) in certain companies. For law firms some people start out as described in one of my earlier posts as a technical advisor or similar title, doing patent and literature searches and helping write some patent applications.

Bear in mind that, in addition to the usual difficulties in obtaining entry-level jobs, IP law is seen as a "hot" area and a lot of people are trying to get into it becaue of that, including a number whose initial aim was to be a scientist, engineer, or doctor.

grm024

Thanks to cartera and dadofsam for the replies.
I just want to clarify your response, dadofsam.

It sounds like you're saying that corporate lab work is not a necessity for entry-level IP attorney positions. Is this correct?

Thanks!

dadofsam

It isn't a necessity on paper, but bear in mind that in order to get that entry level position you not only have to have certain minimal qualifications such as a science degree - you also have to be competitive with others trying for that same job. If many of them will have had research experience and you don't, then you will not be that competitive. At the moment, in certain technical fields (biotech, for instance) a lot of people seeking that initial job have Ph.D.s and often postdoc experience as well. Someone who doesn't have that is, to a fair degree, at a disadvantage.

Dbate

DadofSam, i am a high school student and I am interested in going into patent law, I may study biochemistry, but I hear that is requires a PhD, which I don't want to get. So my question is if I get only a BS in biochemistry and then later go to a top law school, like Harvard or UChicago, would I be able to obtain a patent law job?

dadofsam

Dbate: In my opinion you are thinking much too far ahead, as you're only in high school. Who knows what you may decide to do when in college. You really should spend your time now thinking about college, not law school or patent law.

See the following threads

to aries or any other patent law expert

Corporate and Patent Law Questions

zebes

Query:

My S is getting his B.A. in Economics/minor Poly Sci. He's considering Intellectual Property or corporate with an eye towards working in the video gaming industry, etc. He'd been writing some pieces for a game review site (as a hobby he enjoys), and they were bought out, and the new guys coming in read his stuff and they asked him to work for them. So now he's got a flexible 3/4 time job as a managing editor, superiving and editing and a bunch of stuff I don't understand with regards to this site. He's also being sent to various conventions/conferences, etc. in the industry and doing a lot of networking. This has only solidified his intent to work in the industry. Any suggestions on law schools that have great IP areas? We're not sure how to even begin looking. Oh, he's a second year undergrad (although he has junior standing). He's trying not to graduate early, which allows him to take a bit less in coursework each semester and still do his job.

zebes