<p>Hello everyone! This is my first post. So i wanted to know what I really needed to go through to become a Patent Attorney. I am first going to attend Dartmouth and then for law school, Western State University. I also want to obtain my juris doctorate in law. Many of my family members are attorneys, doctors, cops, etc. I just want to know what I have to go through to obtain my Juris Doctorate and to receive a license in the speciality of a Patent Attorney. </p>
<p>Question #2:
How much should I expect to make my first year out of law school? I want to own a small firm with a few friends of mine. My uncle did the same and he said he made $875,000 his first year out of law school as Patent Attorney. (Not a typo). Thanks a million everyone!</p>
<p>You’ll need a technical undergraduate degree in engineering or math or a science. Your J.D. will come from law school, a three-year program.</p>
<p>Don’t get focused on specific schools. You can get into law school from almost anywhere with very high grades and an excellent score on a very difficult admissions test, the LSAT.</p>
<p>After law school you’ll need to pass a state bar exam about law in general and then a special exam related to your specialty of patent law.</p>
<p>If you want to open your own firm right away, you’ll need clients to pay the bills! So you’ll need good connections to people who are inventing things they want to patent. Your uncle’s experience may or may not predict your own.</p>
<p>You may want to consider the information on page 4 of the General Requirements Bulletin referenced on the following page when choosing your undergraduate major and course work with intent to go into patent law:</p>
<p>[Exam</a> Registration](<a href=“http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/oed/exam/registration.jsp]Exam”>http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/oed/exam/registration.jsp)</p>
<p>Dear Futurepatent:</p>
<p>Nice to hear that you are already planning to enter our profession. Many of your questions will be answered by your reading my thread at the top of this board. You’ll need a degree in one of the engineering or science fields (not mathematics) plus a law degree and will have to pass both a state bar exam and the USPTO exam.</p>
<p>However, don’t be disturbed if during your college years, or even afterwards, your goal changes because of exposure to other subjects or professions. It’s not unusual for this to happen.</p>
<p>Good luck as you move through your future.</p>
<p>The minimum undergraduate degree requirements for taking the Patent Bar are just that: minimum requirements. The stronger and more advanced your your scientific training the higher likelihood of finding a position as a patent attorney. In some fields such as biotechnology virtually all patent attorneys have PhDs. In software, that is less the case although many have graduate degrees. Arguably, your science degree will be more important than your law degree in getting you a position with a law firm and even more so if you want to start off on your own. </p>
<p>As far as what you can make straight out of law school, a realistic income is probably around $100,000, not much more. There is fairly strong demand for qualified patent attorneys although the field is pretty small. Most patent law firms are boutique firms with 50 or less attorneys not the large firms that hire associates at $160K starting salaries. A patent attorney with 5 years experience can make $200,000 possibly more in hot fields such as software. Partners can make $500,000 or more but that requires very strong “rainmaking skills” or ability to bring in new clients. Unless you are in patent litigation, which is an entirely different business, you will never make seven figures or near it. </p>
<p>Starting your own patent law firm is clearly the way to go if you want to make a lot of money but such an option is unrealistic unless you have at least 5-10 years experience, some unique technical skills and a solid book of clients. Nobody will ever hire you to file their patents straight out of law school, not even a simple design patent. Law schools do not train you in patent prosecution. You learn it on the job and the learning curve is very steep. There is a huge difference in work quality between a junior and an experienced patent attorney. Clients know that. Large firms such as IBM or Microsoft that file many patents have turned patent prosecution into a commodity business with low margins. They do much of the preliminary work in-house and outsource the actual filing and prosecution. It is very competitive and most of their business goes to established firms with whom they have worked with over many years. Patent search has increasingly been outsourced to places like India. As a patent attorney, you also need professional liability insurance which is very expensive in patent law. A missed filing can cost companies millions. </p>
<p>If my ultimate objective was to make a lot of money as an attorney, patent law would probably not be my first choice. Litigation is much lucrative if you know what you are doing. Patent law requirs a lot of technical training before law school, 5 to 10 years apprenticeship with an established boutique firm, strong business development skills to bring in clients. On the positive side, patent attorneys can fairly easily find positions, even with the current glut of lawyers and the demand will remain strong for the foreseable future.</p>
<p>There is a of good advice already given above. Here is my 2 cents. I strongly recommend looking at this bulletin which spells out the USPTO’s general reqirements for admission to take the patent bar exam:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/oed/GRB_March_2012.pdf[/url]”>http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/oed/GRB_March_2012.pdf</a></p>
<p>USPTO is pretty strict about the criteria, e.g., if your BS degree is not on the list, forget about qualifying under Category A. Additionally, be very careful about raking up speeding and other traffic tickets - every fine over $100 has to be documented for the USPTO.</p>
<p>An alternative to working for a big law firm would be to become an in-house patent attorney at a high-tech or a biotech company (although to qualify for in-house positions, you will have to work for a big law firm for a few years to gain the experience). You may not make the $800,000 salary, but companies still give out stock options and RSUs to their top employees, and in-house jobs can be less stressful.</p>