hiya
i read through a bunch of TLS posts about patent law, and couldn't help but notice how patent prosecution is limited to electrical engineering or some other engineering degree (also phd in sciences). the flood of computer science majors flocking to law school supposedly makes it more difficult for CS majors to get employed.
but when i checked out law firm websites, recruitment pages, articles on BCG/Law Crossing, i couldn't help but notice that computer science degrees + patent bar is sufficient for landing a patent prosecution job. computer science degree holders are in high demand according to these sources. an example: http://www.intellectualpropertycrossing ... id=1370075
1. can someone please help me make sense of the disparity between TLS sentiment and the aforementioned sources?
2. would having a computer science background be too much of a "generalist" in the point of view of patent prosecution departments?
3. i understand basic physics (took a 5 credit physics course for science majors), and will be taking physics II in the future. but even if i do some how land a patent prosecution job, would my lack of background in electrical/mechanical engineering constitute an insurmountable obstacle to becoming a successful patent prosecution attorney?
4. is a masters in computer science less valuable than a year's worth of experience in computer industry? this would be research experience vs work experience. (if i end up pursuing a masters, would having a publication in computer science be of any help? or is it true that law firms really don't care at all about what happened before law school?)
Patent Prosecution with Computer Science Forum
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EdmundBurke23
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Black-Blue
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Re: Patent Prosecution with Computer Science
1. What is the exact disparity you're talking about? As far as I know, TLS just says electrical engineering is good, and PhD bio is good, and non-PhD bio is bad. It doesn't say much else regarding other fields.
2. I would think that Comp Sci would be a specialist, rather than a generalist. A lot of electrical engineering people can do comp sci stuff, but not vice versa.
3. Depends on what exactly you're working with. You could be doing telecom, which would involve electrical engineering. Robotics Compsci would involve some mechanical engineering.
4. No. However, check some attorney profiles on websites to see what they emphasize.
2. I would think that Comp Sci would be a specialist, rather than a generalist. A lot of electrical engineering people can do comp sci stuff, but not vice versa.
3. Depends on what exactly you're working with. You could be doing telecom, which would involve electrical engineering. Robotics Compsci would involve some mechanical engineering.
4. No. However, check some attorney profiles on websites to see what they emphasize.
