Re: Patent Practice as Solo.

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On 5/23/06, FordhamGrad wrote:
> Anybody out there got any feedback on the possibility of a
> solo patent practice? I've got an engineering degree and
> I've passed the Patent Bar (more correctly, the
> Registration Examination). My engineering degree is not
> in electrical, computer science, or one of the other
> degrees the big IP firms really want. But I know enough
> to help small-time inventors.

Well, I am just a one L as of right now. But I used to work as a
patent agent in an IP boutique. As for IP solos, I don't think
too much of the idea. In fact, I know one EE who worked for a
while in Silicon Valley after law school, then went broke as a
solo IP lawyer in Houston.

But then again, I know one of my classmates has a father who
worked as an in-house patent lawyer for a couple of big firms
(schlumberger?) and then went on his own, and makes big big
bucks.

One of the patent agents at that IP firm I was at went out on her
own, taking a major client with her.

I think it all depends on your connections with a big client. I
have none.

I plan to go solo in criminal defense or divorce as soon as I get
out of law school, but I suppose it might be wise to get a job in
a firm that does a lot of work in those areas, if I could find a
job. But at my age (50 when I graduate), it may be hard to get a
job. I don't know why? I think I have a really big advantage in
understanding the real world as compared to my classmates. That
is apparent to me from my classes. And I am at the top of my
class.....