by Brian Pandya

Like Jim above, I too was attracted to an alternative path in engineering. While I loved interning at Fortune 500 manufacturer, I wanted a career that was both intellectually challenging and allowed me to pursue my non-technical interests. So, the next summer, after participating in the Washington Internships for Students for Engineering (WISE) program that ASME International and the National Science Foundation sponsors, I realized that a career in patent law was right for me since it allowed me to stay in touch with my mechanical engineering background (more so than had I taken the MBA route), while getting a broader view and exposure than in a highly technical design or research role. Unlike Jim, who is on the government side of intellectual property, deciding who gets patents, and really seeing the process at the nuts and bolts level, I am seeking to be on the legal side, helping clients with the process that people like Jim run.

The process towards becoming a "patent lawyer" may seem long at first glance, but is easy to decipher if you plan. First, you must hold an engineering degree, so that you can understand the technology and write a patent application. In my opinion, a mechanical engineering background is ideal because it touches nearly every hot area where patents are obtained: biotech, computers, aerospace/defense, etc. Second, you must get a law degree. The law degree is the same as what Johnny Cochran, Ted Olson, or any other lawyer has, but as a third step, you must pass the "patent bar," the license to write patents and to submit them for approval to people like Jim at the USPTO.

Currently, I am a first year law student at the University of Michigan. This semester I am finishing up my required first year classes that every lawyer takes (torts, criminal procedure, constitutional law, etc.) and am beginning to take my electives in intellectual property such as patent law, copyrights, trademarks, anti-trust and unfair competition, technology management, bioethics, and e-commerce. Law school takes six semesters (approximately 2 ½ to 3 years) if you go full time as I am doing, or 4-5 years if you go part-time on the nights and weekends.

What will I do with my law degree? I plan to join a law firm and/or start my own practice, representing inventors and corporations, helping them to obtain patent protection from people at the USPTO like Jim, and if they fail to obtain a patent, appealing Jim's decision in federal court (a common practice, and a reason why people get lawyers to write their patents). Law is a good stepping-stone into management, finance, and entrepreneurship, so I may eventually transition into one of those fields. The majority of patent work is around Washington, DC (the USPTO is in nearby Crystal City, VA), where I hope to practice, though with the ever increasing role of technology in life today and companies' strong desire to protect their intellectual property, nearly every major city from Los Angeles to New York to Minneapolis to Pittsburgh to Denver to Atlanta to Seattle has a very good market for patent attorneys.

(James Smalley is a graduate of Penn State University, where he was active in the ASME student section. His email address is jsmalley12000@yahoo.com. Brian Pandya also is a Penn State mechanical engineering grad and active ASME member. His email address is bpandya@umich.edu. Both would be happy to field any questions about patent law and careers in intellectual property.)