Where is a good website to look for the pre-requisites for studying Paten Law?
As well as length of time it takes to study(FL)
Pay range
Whether or not the the field is in demand
Incentives?? for being in that proffesion (Patent Law)
Answers:
(1) To be a patent lawyer you have to:
(a) Be a lawyer (i.e. go to law school, pass, and pass the bar in a state), (b) Have a significant amount of hard science / mathematics background from undergrad, grad school, or other study: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/ol...
and (c) Pass the Patent Bar Exam.
So you're looking at at least 4 years for an undergrad degree plus three for law school, plus a few extra months to study for the patent bar exam (which you can take during law school.
The field is higly in demand. Patent attorneys usually make 25% more than other types of attorneys in the same market -- so in medium sized cities where attorneys start at $110,000, patent attorneys will make $140,000 or so.
Incentives -- unless you decide to litigate, you don't have to deal with the crazy work hours of other attorneys... it's more of a 8 to 6-type job. You also get to help inventors get their inventions to market. And you get a pretty dang good salary.
You have to have an undergraduate Bachelors (BA or BS) degree. Then you have to take the LSAT test before applying for law school. You have to have good grades and not be a dingbat. Then you have to get accepted and go to law school for three years. Getting a good job depends on getting a good internship which also depends on getting good grades. Then you have to take and pass your State law board exam.
Patent law is a pretty good area (profession) to be in if you work for a good company. If you work for yourself don't expect people to beat down your door asking you to patent their inventions - they don't have any money anyway. Good luck.
I presume you meant "Patent" ...
For a patent agent:
All you have to do is have a bachellor's degree in science or engineering and I think you might have to be enrolled in law school, and you can take the test. You might not even have to be enrolled. I just know that you don't need an actual law degree to take it. They have signs all over my law school campus about taking the test and it just says attention engineering and science majors. Patent lawyers are different though, they need to graduate law school and pass the bar exam and a special patent law test as well.
I said PATENT AGENT not LAWYER and I am correct.
Well David is right on track. You must get a BA or BS and go to law school. A few people that I know who have taken the Patent Bar have said that getting a degree in engineering is pretty helpful, but not mandatory. Although the Patent bar pamphlet specifically says science majors.
As far as years to put in. Generally engineering degrees take about 5 years, some (few) do it in 4. But regular chemistry or physics will also help.
Law school is going to be 3 years. There really won't be a whole lot of classes in law school to really specialize in like in undergrad. But you might get lucky with a few elective classes.
To be a Patent Attorney you have to pass the state bar in the state you choose to practice, and you have to pass the Patent Bar. I've heard that the Patent Bar is tough but not as exhausting as the actual bar exam. Though the people who've told me this are absolutely brilliant, so who knows :)
Pay range and incentives depend entirely on what firm you get into, but right now Patent lawyers are in serious demand, especially big chemical companies. You can find some law recruiting firms online with a pretty easy google search, and theladders.com is a place that is a $100K a year job search site. I'd search executive jobs and law or legal recruiting for different options. I'd normally give you the link, but if you want to be an attorney you're going to have to get really great at research :) Good Luck
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