Is a Master's ONLY (not bachelor's) sufficient to take IP bar? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Long story short, I was a hippy in undergrad and ended up being around 10 units short of a B.S. degree. Now I want to take the IP bar. I figure a master's will take the same time as a bachelor's. So can if I get a master's in a science field, will take suffice to let me sit to take the patent bar?

And more generally, will that look weird to an employer that I have a master's but not a bachelor's in science?

[Anonymous User]

Bump pls

[Pepper91]

The PTO website lists the required qualifications. You can still qualify by taking the required amount of certain courses, rather than having an actual degree in a subject.

An employer's view of having only a masters would be context dependent. Only a masters in electrical engineering = probably wouldn't care a huge amount. Only a masters in environmental science = no good.

[jdmonkey]

For the USPTO you can take those 10 credits in hard science/math without paying for a degree. It seems like the easiest way to get the credits is to pay per credit at a community college. Once you are licensed before the USPTO, that's it...you can do anything with IP. I doubt an employer would care how you get the last 10 credits if you successfully complete them and pass the USPTO exam. You also won't have to worry about clients questioning your credentials, since under the rules of ethics you can call yourself a "patent attorney." This is one of the few areas of law where you can hold yourself out to be a specialist.

[Anonymous User]

Once you are licensed before the USPTO, that's it...you can do anything with IP. I doubt an employer would care how you get the last 10 credits if you successfully complete them and pass the USPTO exam.

Not true. Many employers will care how deep your science background goes, and some will superficially judge that based on whether you have a degree or not in the field. I would not rely on having a reg. number just by doing the basic requirements for the Patent Bar.

As for whether you need a Bachelors, specifically, or whether a Masters will do, I think you're probably fine with just the Masters. But as someone noted above, the subject matter of that Masters will matter a lot. I'd also throw in that the school you get the Masters from will also matter a lot for pros. Just as examples, don't go to CC to get an MS in geology, or go to MIT to get a MS in environmental science; try to get a CS degree from CMU, or an EE degree from UMD CP, etc. That science degree could actually matter a lot more to employers than where you went to law school, so treat the decision as being just as important.

[Bluem_11]

Category B of the Patent Bar GRB is your best shot

ii. Graduate Degrees: An applicant who has a Master's or higher level degree in one of
the subject areas listed above, but does not have a Bachelor's degree in such subject,
must establish to the satisfaction of the OED Director that he or she possesses the
necessary scientific and technical training. Possession of the necessary scientific and
technical training may be satisfactorily established in the manner set forth under either
Category B or Category C below.

http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/OED_GRB.pdf

And yes my firm has hired people with a MS and no Bachelors in a patent bar area AS LONG AS they could qualify for the amount of credits needed under Cat B or C.