Re: Beinga a patent lawyer....Patent Bar, LLM?

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Spare yourself the agony of patent prosecution. If you deal
with a large multi-national, you will have the easiest time.
However, may be only a hundred partners at the biggest firms in
the US have that deal. Thus, you and the ten other guys
prosecuting on behalf of that one partner will end up being
owned by the partner. If you think that you will inherit that
big client because of yur superior performance when the partner
retires, just step into the next office and that guy in a moment
of truth will tell you the same.

With small clients it's a matter of handholding, continuous
handholding, they change their mind, they ignore your letters,
and at best they barely understand the patent process. They
want you to send letters to their competitors threatening them
because they make the same product.

Try explaining how by crimping product X in the opposite
direction the competitor avoids the claim, try reminding them
how you advised against the limitation, but they just wanted a
patent fast and were willing to take the Examiner's indication
of allowance. Well guess what they don't care if you are right
or wrong, they just think patents are worthless and that they
have been scammed.

Patent prosecution will be done using outsourced associates in
India and Korea soon, simply because patent proecution for the
big clients is a commodity and because the small clients can't
afford to pay for the service that they expect.

Of course, let's not forget the great patent office rules
whereby one slip on you lost your ability to file a
continuation. Welcome to patent prosecution.

After six years of working may way from small firms to big NYC
law firms handling big and small clients, I am thinking of
getting out and doing something else, anything else.

On 4/03/05, Lee wrote:
> On 3/28/05, Connie wrote:
>> I have been a praticing attorney since October 2004 in a
>> small general practice firm but I want to make the switch
>> to IP law. I took 2 IP courses in law scool. I also
>> wrote my student law review note on IP and got an LLM in
>> international law focusing on International IP. I have an
>> undergraduate minor in chemistry and would probably have
>> to take a few more courses to be eligible for the patent
>> bar. The problem is that I have only had 2 courses in
>> IP. Should I get an LLM in IP? How do I get into the
>> field? My school was not big on IP so I dont know the
>> right path.
>
> I think you've had enough coursework. Once you take and pass
> the patent bar exam, it is crucial that you get practical
> experience. Practicing IP law is different from getting the
> coursework.
>
> By the way, I think that you need to take quite a few more
> chemistry courses, if memory serves me. I took the patent bar
> exam with a bachelor's in chemistry, so I haven't paid keen
> attention to the requirements, but I do think it's a fair
> number of credits.
>
>
> The key question is what aspect of IP you would like to focus
> on. Patents? If so, we generally look for someone with at
> least an undergraduate degree in a technical specialty.
> Copyrights? Trademarks? You can always "study up" each on
> the job. There are good treatises out there that can help you
> when you are in (IP) practice: Nimmer on Copyright, McCarthy
> on Trademarks.
>
> Hopefully, you can get a more experienced IP attorney to
> mentor you. It's quintessential to have a mentor in the
> process. For patents, the learning curve is over one year.
> For copyrights and trademarks, the learning curve is less, but
> it helps to have someone who can guide you.
>
> P.S. You can e-mail me if you'd like.