Hi,guys. I have a Ph.D. in science and will go to LS this year. And hope to pursue a career path in IP law firm.I would like to ask for some advice about doing IP law.
1. Should I pass both IP bar and state bar
2. When should I prepare IP bar during the law school?Shall I do it even in 0L?
3. Do you know any good forum about study/work in IP law.
4. Which are the cities with the major IP firms in the nation?
Sorry,I am a newbie,and I guess my questions are dumb. Thanks for your patience to explain.
IP law question
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Ship87
- Posts: 199
- Joined: Fri May 21, 2010 9:53 pm
Re: IP law question
I'm a 0L as well but I've asked some of these questions before and these are the general consensus replies I've recieved:
1)The IP bar is if you want to file for patents. You can do litigation without the IP bar, and judging from what I've read in terms of bios of attorneys working in IP firms, most of the people who have graduate degrees have taken the IP bar. Myself, I'll have a B.S. in Physics when I graduate, so taking the IP bar would not deliver much value because they would seek someone with a more advanced degree in EE/Physics if they were to file a patent. Since you have a Ph.D., I think the IP bar would be a good idea.
2) No the IP bar is this ridiculous test about the ins and outs of the USPTO rules. From reading online, most people take classes and dedicate a couple months to studying for it and even then the pass rates for the IP bar is much lower than state bars. Also from what I read it seems that the firm that hires you will probably pay for your classes and such to take the IP bar. Definently wait until 3L to start preparing.
3) Not really, I just googled IP law and creeped on some attorney bios at different firms.
4) The usual suspects: Palo Alto/SoCal, NYC, Boston, i.e. major cities with big research universities.
This is just advice from one newb to another so take it with a grain of salt, but that is my accumulated wisdom so far.
1)The IP bar is if you want to file for patents. You can do litigation without the IP bar, and judging from what I've read in terms of bios of attorneys working in IP firms, most of the people who have graduate degrees have taken the IP bar. Myself, I'll have a B.S. in Physics when I graduate, so taking the IP bar would not deliver much value because they would seek someone with a more advanced degree in EE/Physics if they were to file a patent. Since you have a Ph.D., I think the IP bar would be a good idea.
2) No the IP bar is this ridiculous test about the ins and outs of the USPTO rules. From reading online, most people take classes and dedicate a couple months to studying for it and even then the pass rates for the IP bar is much lower than state bars. Also from what I read it seems that the firm that hires you will probably pay for your classes and such to take the IP bar. Definently wait until 3L to start preparing.
3) Not really, I just googled IP law and creeped on some attorney bios at different firms.
4) The usual suspects: Palo Alto/SoCal, NYC, Boston, i.e. major cities with big research universities.
This is just advice from one newb to another so take it with a grain of salt, but that is my accumulated wisdom so far.
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Bosque
- Posts: 1580
- Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2008 10:14 pm
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androstan
- Posts: 4602
- Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:07 am
Re: IP law question
You should pass the patent bar before 1L.
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blazinswordofjustice
- Posts: 61
- Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 11:52 pm
Re: IP law question
I have heard before that passing the IP bar before law school is a great way to get a 1L summer job...so if you are up to the studying/work it might be worth it...but i'd do more googling/searching first...
search is a powerful tool, almost ever question has already been asked, why i'm such a lurker!
search is a powerful tool, almost ever question has already been asked, why i'm such a lurker!
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