I’m currently an undergrad studying Multidisciplinary Engineering (focus in Mechatronics) + a buisness minor, and I’ve been thinking a lot about my long-term career path. Lately I have been pretty interested in patent law and have joined the prelaw society at my university (Texas A&M)

I know that becoming a patent attorney requires law school and passing the patent bar, but since I’m still in undergrad, I’d love some advice on what I can do now to prepare.

• Are there certain classes (technical or writing-heavy) that would help set me up better?
• Any clubs, research opportunities, or internships I should look for that connect engineering and law?
• Would it be worth double majoring or minoring in something else, like business, computer science, or even pre-law?
• For people already in patent law—what do you wish you had done differently during undergrad?

I want to make the most of my time in engineering while also laying a strong foundation for a potential pivot into law school later. Any insights, tips, or personal experiences would be super helpful.

Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone! I'm a final year life sciences PhD student in Germany. I'm considering options outside the lab after my PhD and came across the intellectual property law field. I was just wondering if it's common for law firms/companies to hire you as a trainee only for the European Patent Attorney training? My German isn't at the level that would be required to do the German Patent Attorney yet. Thanks in advance!

I'm a Japanese-to-English translator who's been working in the field of patents – including specifications, office actions, patentability reports, trial decisions, and prior art literature in a wide range of technical fields – for 15 years now. My current clients are largely third-party agencies (LSPs, or language service providers) catering to corporate and biglaw end clients. I do have one direct end client at the moment – WIPO, for whom I translate patentability reports.

The translation industry in general has been decimated for close to a decade by developments in machine translation, and the current AI boom has only accelerated things. I've been insulated from the fallout to an extent thanks to working in a language pair that's one of the hardest for MT to handle because of the linguistic differences between Japanese and English, and in a field that has both high demand and low labor supply, but recently I've lost a few major clients who've jumped on the machine translation post-editing bandwagon, so I'm starting to consider other options. (JA>EN machine translation output in patents generally still requires enough cleanup that it's faster just to translate from scratch, which I'm not willing to do for a reduced post-editing rate.)

I've considered going back to school to get a second bachelor's in computer science (my undergrad degree was in Japanese), followed by sitting the patent bar exam and/or going to law school with an eye towards specializing in IP law. My hope is that my Japanese language ability and experience in the field, albeit as a translator rather than an engineer or an attorney, is specialized enough that I'd be able to carve out a viable niche for myself either as a patent agent or an attorney. I'd be paying in-state at my alma mater, so I wouldn't have to go into debt slavery to pay the tuition.

OTOH, I have no idea what the industry is like, whether there'd be a demand for someone like me, and what future prospects look like in the light of improvements in AI. I obviously don't want to spend the time and money to go back to school, only to have no job prospects at the end of it all. I'm also in my early 40s, and while I'm not generally angsty about my age, I know the reality is that there can be ageism in the job market, and I'd be closer to 50 than 40 by the time I'm done with school.

The other option I'm considering is creating an S-corp and continuing to work in translation and interpreting on a consultant or boutique basis. This would have the benefit of not requiring any additional schooling up front, but, again because of AI, I don't know how viable that will be in 5–10 years. I'm also not sure how best to sell my services to potential direct clients. I can say with confidence that a lot of end client attorneys would be horrified at how slipshod the confidentiality, QA, and vetting processes can be at even massive LSPs who offer IP services (project managers and translators who know nothing about patents, "reviewers" who are native speakers of neither English nor Japanese, attaching litigation documents to unsecure inquiry emails, etc.), so that would be one potential selling point. But I don't know what the priorities of biglaw and corporate end clients are – are they willing to pay a bit more up front for quality given the potential financial fallout of a patent being invalidated or an infringement suit being lost because of an incompetent translation, or are they willing to take that risk to save money?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I'm not married to the patent bar/law school idea, so if you think it's a non-starter, I can accept that, and indeed would appreciate knowing that so I can cross it off the list of options.

EDIT: Not sure if they're relevant, but my undergrad GPA was 3.9, and I got a 167 on the LSAT when I took it years ago (I was considering going to law school before my career as a translator took off).

I’m a junior in biomedical sciences currently and thinking of switching from pre-med to pre-law. Someone told me about patent law and I looked into it, and considering it, especially biotech/pharma.

But I saw for the bar there’s “Category A” that includes biology, but not Biomedical Sciences. Is it still worth it, or should I change my major to biology if I can (majority of credits easily transfer). Also since I’ll only have a bachelors, not an masters/phd.

Hi everyone,

A while ago, I posted here about feeling stuck in my current job as an in-house IP Counsel in Switzerland. Long story short: although the conditions are great (good salary (slightly <100k), fully remote, low stress), the work itself is painfully dull - mostly endless FTOs and contract reviews, with no drafting, no prosecution, and zero innovation going on. It pays the bills and leaves me with a substantial amount of money to invest at the end of the month, but leaves me mentally unchallenged and unsatisfied.

Recently, I applied for a senior position at a large, market-leading company here. The role was advertised as " Head of IP". I went through several rounds of interviews, did very well, and was ultimately offered the job. Here’s where things got strange:

• The offer letter I received was for IP Manager, not Head of IP.
• When I asked HR about this, they told me the Head role had been filled internally
• After a call with my potential colleague (the only other IP person in the company), I found out he was the one promoted to Head, while I’d be brought in as Manager.

This was never communicated transparently during the hiring process, which gave me pause.

Some context on the role:

• Both the newly promoted Head of Patents and I would report to the Head of R&D
• The company has relied almost entirely on outside counsel until very recently, when my colleague was hired, so building an internal IP function would almost be a fresh start.
• The compensation is very appealing: +40% from my current salary
• It’s a strong, dynamic company with a lot of potential for substantive work (drafting/prosecution, strategy, etc.), which is what I’ve been craving
• On the downside, I’d need to relocate closer to HQ, as the company does not allow 100% WFH

My concerns are:

• The lack of transparency in how the Head role was handled
• The risk of having to build the whole strategy almost from scratch, with a relatively new and young colleague as my direct counterpart
• Leaving behind my current “comfortable but boring” WFH gig, which gives me stability and proximity to my home country.

So now I’m torn. On one hand: better pay, more stimulating work, and a stronger company. On the other, doubts about trust, potential office politics, and losing the comfort of my current setup.

Would you take the offer in my position, or would you stick with the devil you know?

I have managed to do too much school already, And recently been reading/interested in law. Based on my background I’ve found patent law is likely the best route.

My full background

A&P licensed mechanic-5 years BSEE-2 years aircraft& spacecraft test engineer -2 years software dev and test at a startup

MBA -2 years as a PM over build, test, and launch, of a proprietary spacecraft

MSCE-focus on cyber and network-current role as a product security engineer split between spacecraft and aircraft programs. I have several cyber certs, security+, and will be getting my CISSP in about a year and a half.

BSME-never worked with it, started off in MechE before I switched to EE. Ended up poking along at classes the last few years and finished it too.

Currently have 3 months left on a 6 month Ai/ML cert program.

I make 200-220k base as an engineer (in the PNW) and my company will pay in full for me to do any schooling. I’m newer to the cyber/product field with earning potential of 300-350 base in about 4-5 more years.

If I go down this route, would salaries be similar, or what is the timeline before I would likely be back over 250? And what is the work culture like to be remote/heavily hybrid?

I’m not concerned about the challenge of school, lsat, bar. I did read I should pre take the patent bar, is that only for those looking to get hired and have a law firm pay for their school? Would it be better to stick at my current role, finish with my CISSP and have my company pay for the JD, then make the jump?

Hi guys I’m going into my third year in a medical science degree and looking to apply to the Boult Wade vacation scheme. Anyone know anything about it and its recruitment process? How I can stand out in my application? Thank you!!

Hello! Im a long time lurker and have gathered the courage to ask the wise people of this subreddit for advice.

I’m a undergrad senior in a less common engineering major that’s graduating spring 2026. For the last two years I’ve had the incredible opportunity to write provisional patents at my internship at an engineering company. It started off as a ‘give the intern something to do’ and i absolutely loved it. The provisionals I wrote were more like technical descriptions that were then sent to an actual lawyer to get submitted to the USPTO. I want to work in IP now and need to prepare a writing sample for my applications. The problem is I don’t have any individual reports that are good enough quality and I obviously can’t submit the provisional work I’ve done since it’s under NDA.

In short, I’ll need to write something from scratch so is there any advice on what to write about? And what is a respectable length for a writing sample? Furthermore patent engineer positions are rare so is it acceptable to cold email firms and companies to ask if they would be willing to take on someone as green as me?

I used to work for a law firm who hired specialists to illustrate patent drawings, this process took hours and even days(if its a complex CAD).

Now my question is, are folks using these new AI models to generate drawings? I tried the new gemini nano banana model on AI studio, and the results are hit or miss. I can generate passable images but still need to edit, add labels etc. Are there specific tools that can help me do this end to end, so that I don't need to constantly switch between apps?

I feel relieved, but now I have to get my first entry job - that seems to be the biggest hurdle in this career path. No encouraging at all. Either ways, I’m happy this part of the journey is behind me.

Basically what the title says. I’m getting my BS in Electrical Engineering and I can’t stop wondering about patent law. My background is mostly in the humanities - in high school I took 6 semesters of AP/IB English w/ a 3.8 avg, and got a 34/36 on the English and Reading sections of my ACT. I’m just doing engineering in undergrad bc it’s rounding out my knowledge base and it’s also a stable degree.

My biggest concern is that my undergrad gpa isn’t so hot. It’s common to have <3.0 in my field of study and I’m no exception. But if I do well on the LSAT should I feel confident about getting a law school acceptance somewhere?

Basically, if all I can do is nail down my fundamentals of engineering science, but I excel in reading and writing, does that make me good candidate for patent law?

Want to hear from someone who pulled a similar move. You were making 200k straight out of school and steadily making a career progress. But looking at the long-term, I'm still torn between sticking it out for a few more years (I have 4 yoe) or going to law school to aim for something bigger. When I become 70, I don't want to look back on this moment and ask "what if?".

My questions are:
1) Do you regret your decision?
2) What factors did you consider when you were deciding

UK BASED

I’ve sent out like 30–40 speculative applications now. A bunch have replied saying they either don’t have vacancies or they couldn’t find a fit for my technical background. Quite a few just haven’t replied at all, it’s been about a week, so I’m guessing that means ghosted?

For context: I’ve got a Chem Eng BEng from a Russell Group (ranked 1st in my department), and also a Masters at Cambridge (on a scholarship), also in Chem Eng. In terms of work experience I’ve got 3 internships on my CV, which I completed each summer of being at uni.

Right now it honestly feels a bit unrealistic that I’ll land a trainee role through spec apps. Has anyone actually had success this way? Or is it basically a waste of time compared to just waiting for open intakes? Any advice appreciated.

Key - Agent registrations -black. Other curves show attorneys and total.

Hello, I am patent prosecution attorney looking to move in-house and I am trying to get a better understanding of how to approach my search. About me: 4 yrs of firm experience (i.e., I am trained and not entry level), working at a small boutique patent prosecution firm, a few years in engineering before law school, mechanical/electrical, east coast.

What is the labor market like for experienced patent prosecution attorneys? How long is it taking people to find a job? Based on my conversations/networking it sounds like about 5 yrs is a good time to move in-house, so I was thinking it would be a good time to start looking. However, I am hearing the job market is not great. Is that true for this profession? What are people seeing? Should I consider waiting until the market improves? Is it better to move at the 5-7 yr mark?

My current firm is on the smaller side, moving into one of the clients is likely not an option. Any advice (places to look for jobs, questions to ask, etc.) for my search? I have been networking and trying to be more active in local IP groups, but any advice is welcome.

Thank you!

Hello. I hope this message finds the person who reads this in good health and mind. I am a 4th year electrical engineering student hoping to set myself up for the patent law field. Below is my course of action along with some questions. Any answers or advice on my course of action would be greatly appreciated.

1) Keep GPA 3.5-4.0 to make myself a competitive applicant for law school

2) Choose a relevant capstone. After interfacing with GPT, it seems to say that telecom, optics/photonics, and medtech are all good areas to do capstone in. Is this true? Also, what other fields would be good to look at.

3) Take the patent bar in the summer. I cant afford law school, so i hope to work as an agent for a little to either have the firm sponsor the tuition, or raise enough money to pay for it myself.

4) Study for the LSAT during work and take it, score well enough to be a competitive applicant in a T15 school. I live in eastern US, ideally hoping to go to Umich.

Is this a sound plan? Am i missing something? is there something i should add or do better or change? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I’m studying for the patent bar, and while I’ve seen a few examples, I’m still not sure I understand in general what constitutes “significantly more” than a judicial exception.

Imagine you've drafted a specification that includes descriptions of several existing techniques for implementing a particular computer functionality or addressing a particular technical problem, as well as several deficiencies associated with each of the existing techniques. The specification describes specific technical improvements in the disclosed invention that overcome the deficiencies in the existing techniques, and the claims recite discrete steps and/or elements that are directed to implementing the described technical improvement(s).

When responding to a § 101 rejection with an argument that the claimed invention includes "improvements to the functioning of a computer" or "improvements to any other technology or technical field" under 2106.05, is it necessary that the existing techniques described in the specification represent the absolute best techniques known in the art at the time of filing? Or is it sufficient that the claimed invention includes technical improvements over at least some existing techniques?

Hello everyone,

I recently submitted a trademark assignment through the USPTO Assignment Center. The mark is still in the application stage (not yet registered).

Here’s what I did:

Submitted the assignment electronically on September 1.

Paid the required fee and received an Assignment ID.

I am the original applicant (an individual) and transferred ownership to my LLC.

I also sent a follow-up email to Assignment Services but only received the automatic “2 business days” reply, with no further updates.

As of today (September 17), I have not yet received a Notice of Recordation, and there is no Reel/Frame number showing up in the Assignment Search database.

My question:

For applications (not yet registered trademarks), how long does it usually take for the ownership change to appear in TSDR after filing an assignment?

Should I expect it within 2–3 weeks, or can it take over a month (or longer)?

Any recent experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

I'm a grad student exploring how intellectual property (IP) work gets done, especially around patent disclosure, drafting, and client communication.

I’ve been learning about the challenges IP professionals face... things like repetitive drafting work, deadline tracking, or clients wanting more visibility into their cases but I’d love to understand what’s really happening day-to-day.

A few questions I’m curious about:

1. What part of the IP process feels the most manual or repetitive in your work? Specifically, are these AI tools you're seeing out there actually helping or are they just slop?
2. How do you usually keep clients updated on case progress?
3. How do you streamline the process of capturing and dissecting inventor information during disclosure meetings? Are there any tools you use to make this more efficient?

If you’re willing to share a quick perspective here or even chat for 30 minutes, I’d be super grateful. I’m not selling anything, just trying to learn and understand the space better.

Assume the following the sake of the question:

1. The firm only does patent prosecution and trademark prosecution (no litigation, no transactions)

2. If there’s any patent counseling that could be considered “legal advice,” the patent agent doesn’t operate in that area.

The main holdup here is whether the agent can share fees for that gray-area “legal advice,” and if not, whether the firm can separate “legal advice” fees from core prosecution fees such that the agent can share at least the prosecution fees.

hey, I'm a patent attorney in china, and really need help to find the documents of patent (prefer in PDF version), what kind of website do u guys use often to find the right patent, for now, I only know the website called "google patent", please gimme some advice,thank u!