Patent with a BA in computer science Forum

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cathy123321

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Patent with a BA in computer science

Post by cathy123321 » Mon Mar 26, 2018 6:54 pm

I'm a sophomore computer science and history at a top20 LAC that only offers BA in computer science. The cs program at my school isn't good. We only have three tenured professors teaching very limited amount of classes. I am taking cs and physics classes that will allow me to sit for the patent bar, and I would have 6 credits left to finish the 4d0 credits requirement for category B by the end of my sophomore year. But I was wondering if only finishing the bare minimum of patent bar requirement is sufficient to do patent law?

For example, the algorithm and operating system classes at my school are horrible. People who want to be software engineers take online courses or take it during summer school. If I can fulfill the credit requirement for patent bar, without taking the "essential" classes like algorithm as a BS in computer science would do, can I still get employed as a patent attorney or a cooperate lawyer in a tech company?

Also I spend most of my time doing history, which is my first major, and my college also has a pretty good history program. My current GPA is 3.95/4.0. Haven't taken LSAT yet but plan to take a summer to work on it. I really want to get into Stanford, because I love the west coast and wish to work in the Bay Area. Would having a really weak cs background reduce my chance of getting into it? Should I take more cs classes? I know a BS science and humanities double major who got into Stanford with a similar GPA as I do but much better science background.

Bla Bla Bla Blah

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Re: Patent with a BA in computer science

Post by Bla Bla Bla Blah » Tue Mar 27, 2018 5:12 am

cathy123321 wrote:I'm a sophomore computer science and history at a top20 LAC that only offers BA in computer science. The cs program at my school isn't good. We only have three tenured professors teaching very limited amount of classes. I am taking cs and physics classes that will allow me to sit for the patent bar, and I would have 6 credits left to finish the 4d0 credits requirement for category B by the end of my sophomore year. But I was wondering if only finishing the bare minimum of patent bar requirement is sufficient to do patent law?

For example, the algorithm and operating system classes at my school are horrible. People who want to be software engineers take online courses or take it during summer school. If I can fulfill the credit requirement for patent bar, without taking the "essential" classes like algorithm as a BS in computer science would do, can I still get employed as a patent attorney or a cooperate lawyer in a tech company?

Also I spend most of my time doing history, which is my first major, and my college also has a pretty good history program. My current GPA is 3.95/4.0. Haven't taken LSAT yet but plan to take a summer to work on it. I really want to get into Stanford, because I love the west coast and wish to work in the Bay Area. Would having a really weak cs background reduce my chance of getting into it? Should I take more cs classes? I know a BS science and humanities double major who got into Stanford with a similar GPA as I do but much better science background.
Best advice I recieved from my history professor, who also happened to have had a one-time successful career for herself in law due to being a Columbia Law grad: tell them what you need to to get in... everyone changes their mind afterwards anyway. While I was honestly going to law school to become a public defender (which happened), I'm now a History BA who works primarily on patent disputes as an intellectual property lawyer.

Long story short, I'm positive that my PI "save the world" interests are what got me into a good law school. Getting into a good law school is the reason that I practice IP, even though I went to an unrecognized state university and am your prototypical fluff degree undergrad. Other piece of advice: do goodly on your grades, score bigly on the LSAT, write a personal statement that makes your accomplishments and ambition seem yuuuge!

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totesTheGoat

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Re: Patent with a BA in computer science

Post by totesTheGoat » Wed Mar 28, 2018 11:29 am

cathy123321 wrote: I really want to get into Stanford, because I love the west coast and wish to work in the Bay Area. Would having a really weak cs background reduce my chance of getting into it? Should I take more cs classes? I know a BS science and humanities double major who got into Stanford with a similar GPA as I do but much better science background.
The rigor of your CS work isn't going to be an issue for admission to law school. Double and triple check that you're meeting the requirements for Cat B eligibility for the patent bar. Better to be safe than sorry. Also, take the patent bar before law school. The rigor of the work is more of an issue when looking for a job. I'll describe the ideal resume for a computer technology patent attorney, and you can see where your shortcomings may be. Obviously, this is ideal, and very few tick every box.

The ideal candidate has an EE degree with a CS minor (or a CmpE degree, where CmpE is essentially EE with a CS focus). A CS degree is marginally less in demand, but only because there are circuit design and semiconductor tech fields that are hard to master with a CS degree. A BA in CS would raise a few eyebrows, even for those who assume that a CS grad could pick up a working knowledge of the hardware tech fields. Ideally, the candidate would have 3-4 years of experience as an engineer/software developer doing large scale product development. Having patents in your name is usually a positive, albeit a very small one. An ideal candidate would have a grad-school-worthy UG GPA, along with undergrad research experience, and possibly a masters or PhD in a relevant EE or CS field. The ideal candidate will also have a good law school GPA along with patent prosecution work experience before/during law school as a patent agent.

As mentioned above, this is the ideal candidate, and I've never met somebody who checks all the boxes. If you're able to sit for the patent bar, you'll be able to find a job, but the better the job, the more boxes you need to check.

nurture

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Re: Patent with a BA in computer science

Post by nurture » Sat Apr 21, 2018 7:11 pm

totesTheGoat wrote:
cathy123321 wrote: I really want to get into Stanford, because I love the west coast and wish to work in the Bay Area. Would having a really weak cs background reduce my chance of getting into it? Should I take more cs classes? I know a BS science and humanities double major who got into Stanford with a similar GPA as I do but much better science background.
The rigor of your CS work isn't going to be an issue for admission to law school. Double and triple check that you're meeting the requirements for Cat B eligibility for the patent bar. Better to be safe than sorry. Also, take the patent bar before law school. The rigor of the work is more of an issue when looking for a job. I'll describe the ideal resume for a computer technology patent attorney, and you can see where your shortcomings may be. Obviously, this is ideal, and very few tick every box.

The ideal candidate has an EE degree with a CS minor (or a CmpE degree, where CmpE is essentially EE with a CS focus). A CS degree is marginally less in demand, but only because there are circuit design and semiconductor tech fields that are hard to master with a CS degree. A BA in CS would raise a few eyebrows, even for those who assume that a CS grad could pick up a working knowledge of the hardware tech fields. Ideally, the candidate would have 3-4 years of experience as an engineer/software developer doing large scale product development. Having patents in your name is usually a positive, albeit a very small one. An ideal candidate would have a grad-school-worthy UG GPA, along with undergrad research experience, and possibly a masters or PhD in a relevant EE or CS field. The ideal candidate will also have a good law school GPA along with patent prosecution work experience before/during law school as a patent agent.

As mentioned above, this is the ideal candidate, and I've never met somebody who checks all the boxes. If you're able to sit for the patent bar, you'll be able to find a job, but the better the job, the more boxes you need to check.
are your referring only to attorney jobs after JD in bolded or also patent agent jobs? is patent agent job easy to get for an EE engineer before law school?

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