<p>Is civil engineering and okay major to eventually pursue patent law?</p>
<p>yes it is. Law schools don't really care what type of engineer you are, they just like engineers.</p>
<p>If you literally want to be a "patent lawyer", then you have to qualify for and pass the USPTO "patent bar" exam. The qualifying requirements are listed [url=<a href="http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/oed/grb0104.pdf%5Dhere%5B/url">http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/oed/grb0104.pdf]here[/url</a>]. You will see that most engineering degrees, including civil engineering degrees, are considered qualifying under Category A. </p>
<p>In practice, engineers that pursue patent law are probably more likely to have electrical or mechanical degrees, but a civil degree is acceptable.</p>
<p>FYI --if you're interested in just writing patent applications, you can take the patent bar and skip the law degree. This will make you a "patent agent" rather than a "patent lawyer." You do not need a law degree to take the patent bar.</p>
<p>I agree that for patent law mechanical or electrical is a slightly better background. Life science is also good for the biotech work. But civil is also fine. Civil is good for environmental law as well.</p>