<p>Hello all,</p>
<p>I'm a second year undergraduate bioengineering + econ double major who is very interested in IP law. I spoke with a Boalt IP professor earlier this week and picked his brain about the field. While our awesome 40 minute conversation made me even more interested in IP law, I learned that most IP lawyers who specialize in the biotech field have either MS's or PhD's in bioengineering...</p>
<p>Could someone please clarify why only BioE's seem to have graduate degrees (I know that a lot of EECS, MechE, and ChemE students students with only BS's and are in IP law)? While I would love to be an IP lawyer in any field, would being an undergrade bioE major limit me to the biotech industry? Would I even find work with only a BS in BioE?</p>
<p>This is because Bioengineering isn't really "engineering." You take a lot of MCB classes, take some math, some engineering, but you don't really do too much of one thing. You don't go in-depth enough in one area. A lot of BioEs are pre-med because you tend to take the bio and chem classes anyway. You can find work as a BioE, but it's tougher to compete for engineering jobs than if you majored in EECS, ChemE, etc. I think this may be why BioEs need to get grad degrees in the field.</p>
<p>Is a BS in bioengineering a waste then without grad school? Could I transition to another specialty in IP law or am I pigeonholed into biotech?</p>
<p>Saxonthebeach: To be competitive for an IP attorney in biotech or a related field as of today you pretty much have to have at least a MS and most likely a Ph.D. The main reason is that a lot of people with those degrees are looking to get into IP and you must compete with them for positions; also, in some biotech work you need to have that level of knowledge to function effectively.</p>
<p>I don't know specifically about bioengineering as I don't know what is covered in that program. Also, note that bioengineering is not one of the majors that (as of today) automatically qualifies you to take the PTO exam. See <a href="http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/oed/grb.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/oed/grb.pdf</a>.</p>
<p>My guess would be that unless things change between now and when you graduate law school five or six years from now, you would need a graduate degree to convince people hiring IP attorneys that you have the requisite technical training.</p>
<p>Does it means that you are pigeonhole into biotech? No, because that degree won't be enough for biotech (I know that wasn't the type of answer you were looking for, but it's the reality). So you might look to take more engineering courses of some type or a graduate degree.</p>
<p>Thanks a ton dadofsam. I'll look into taking some more engineering classes outside of my bioengineering and see which one interests me the most. Perhaps I'll go to grad school in something like chemE or MSE (is there a future for MSE's in IP law?)</p>
<p>The thing that confuses me in regards to a bioengineering degree is that is the undergraduate degree still not specialized enough if you are doing a specific track within the field for your undergraduate major? For example, my major is cell and tissue bioengineering, so for the next three years I am taking a lot of mechanical engineering and some materials science courses. We do have a general bioengineering degree which I agree seems kind of worthless where you just kind of dabble in different fields without any real specific focus. However, if you are doing a specific track under the bioengineering major are you somewhat more qualified for IP law? I mean, I plan on shooting for an MS anyway but it would be helpful to know before I change to MechE so I won't have to feel forced to go to graduate school.</p>
<p>Either/Or, BioE is not as good a degree as a more conventional discipline. A BioE with a concentration in tissue engineering is possibly the best candidate for a position called "cell & tissue engineer". However, what happens when you get into the workplace and no one is hiring for that position. A generalist like a MechE is practically on the same footing as you in terms of an engineering skillset that companies look for.</p>
<p>Point taken. Thanks Mr. Payne.</p>
<p>Saxonthebeach: if by MSE you mean a graduate degree in materials science, then you should note that this major again does not automatically qualify you to take the USPTO examination. Perhaps undergraduate and graduate combined you will have taken enough science courses to permit the USPTO to consider yourself qualified. You need to look at the specific course requirementd given at the website in my previous post.</p>
<p>Either/or: the same applies to bioengineering. In addition it sounds too limited in scope to be of much use in patent law except to a company in that specific field (of which there are relatively very few). If you really are interested in IP law you probably need a bit broader scientific education</p>
<p>Quick question, why is biomedical fine but bioengineering not included?</p>
<p>I was under the impression that they were fairly similar. Im BME, but I was under the impression that it is very similar to bioE.</p>
<p>I don't know why bioengineering is not included but they are not the same subject. Bomedical engineering usually is a combination of mechanical engineering with biology/anatomy/physiology, and involves developing prosthseis devices and the like. Bioengineering generally involves microbiology and some chemical engineering and the subject is understanding biochemical processes.</p>