IP law technical background Forum

[wildcats2008]

I am currently an undergraduate industrial engineering major. I'm interested in IP law, but from reading these forums, it seems as if industrial engineering is simply not held in much regard compared to EE or Bio/Chem Phds. Would IP firms even look at someone who meets the requirements for IP, but does not have a desirable background? Thanks for all the help!

[Bosque]

I am currently an undergraduate industrial engineering major. I'm interested in IP law, but from reading these forums, it seems as if industrial engineering is simply not held in much regard compared to EE or Bio/Chem Phds. Would IP firms even look at someone who meets the requirements for IP, but does not have a desirable background? Thanks for all the help!

You know how no one like Industrial Engineering majors and calls them "Imaginary Engineers" in undergrad? Yah, those same people are the ones hiring IP lawyers.

Not saying it's fair, just telling it like it is.

[JazzOne]

I am currently an undergraduate industrial engineering major. I'm interested in IP law, but from reading these forums, it seems as if industrial engineering is simply not held in much regard compared to EE or Bio/Chem Phds. Would IP firms even look at someone who meets the requirements for IP, but does not have a desirable background? Thanks for all the help!

UG majors are pretty much irrelevant to legal employers. If you had a graduate degree, that might change things, but your engineering UG degree isn't going to open many doors for you. It's still possible to do IP work, but it's not likely since many of the applicants for those jobs have impressive law school credentials and engineering/science advanced degrees.

[wildcats2008]

Where would you put a b.s in industrial engineering in regards to other technical majors?
Would it go EE>MechE/Bio/Chem PhD>ChemEng>>>>>>>IE? Just wondering where I'm at on the totem pole. At the very bottom or just above the bachelors in bio/chem people? Thanks for the help. Should I just forget about IP then, or is it still a reasonable option?

[jdhakert]

Just think about patent work and think about how useful an industrial engineering degree would be for that, especially compared to ee or chemistry/biochemistry where you have patentable discoveries (compounds/substrates that are used as mechanisms or intermediates for some useful reaction, etc.)

[JazzOne]

Where would you put a b.s in industrial engineering in regards to other technical majors?
Would it go EE>MechE/Bio/Chem PhD>ChemEng>>>>>>>IE? Just wondering where I'm at on the totem pole. At the very bottom or just above the bachelors in bio/chem people? Thanks for the help. Should I just forget about IP then, or is it still a reasonable option?

I found it very difficult to break into IP, and I have a science degree and a lot of research experience. But some of my friends got into IP with far less experience. In your case, it willcome down to which law school you attend, how high your class rank is, and how well you can sell your interest in IP in an interview.

[wildcats2008]

Thank you for all the information. So, it certainly seems that I will have an uphill battle breaking into IP law. I've read that firms tend to dig deeper into classes for IP then for other areas? Is this true? For example, say median at Columbia/NYU/Chicago is competitive for biglaw, would median also be necessary for IP or might a firm consider someone around the 40th percentile? Once again, thanks for all the help. This is a major decision so I want to gather as much useful information as possible.

[JazzOne]

Thank you for all the information. So, it certainly seems that I will have an uphill battle breaking into IP law. I've read that firms tend to dig deeper into classes for IP then for other areas? Is this true? For example, say median at Columbia/NYU/Chicago is competitive for biglaw, would median also be necessary for IP or might a firm consider someone around the 40th percentile? Once again, thanks for all the help. This is a major decision so I want to gather as much useful information as possible.

I hope that someone else chimes in because I didn't get an IP job. So, my perspective may be skewed, and my strategy was obviously flawed in some respect. If it is true that IP firms dig deeper into the class (which I cannot confirm, and I kind of doubt), they probably do so for applicants with other credentials that the firm is interested in (e.g., graduate degrees, technical work experience, etc.). Since you don't have a graduate degree or technical work experience, I think you need to finish pretty high in your class to be competitive for IP work. Would you be completely disappointed if you went to law school and couldn't work in IP? I ask because I was primarily interested in IP. I was attracted to that kind of work because I felt like it would be a way to use my UG knowledge instead of just flushing it down the toilet by working a job that didn't use that knowledge. But now I find myself with a job offer with a litigation boutique (not IP), and I'm perfectly happy with that. If the only thing you want out of law school is to be an IP attorney, I'd reconsider. It's hard enough to land a decent job ITE without restricting yourself to something like 1% of the legal jobs out there.

[wildcats2008]

IP is my #1 choice as of right now, but I would not be devastated if I ended up working in some other area of law. I could see myself doing corporate or environmental law as well. Jazz, could you just tell me your profile (rank of ug, major (IE?), work experience, graduate degrees etc.) or pm me, which ever. Thank you for all your help.

[dood]

Thank you for all the information. So, it certainly seems that I will have an uphill battle breaking into IP law. I've read that firms tend to dig deeper into classes for IP then for other areas? Is this true? For example, say median at Columbia/NYU/Chicago is competitive for biglaw, would median also be necessary for IP or might a firm consider someone around the 40th percentile? Once again, thanks for all the help. This is a major decision so I want to gather as much useful information as possible.

1. no hard numbers or cutoffs, impossible to predict ur scenario.
2. order of importance: grades > interviewing ability > ..........everything else
i would bet the house on stellar law school grades and good personality over a phd any day
3. the problem with industrial is u dont fit into a practice group. a lot of IP groups in big firms or IP boutiques are segd out in electrical, mechanical, and bio/chem groups.
4. why dont u just switch into ME or something with most crossover with IE

[JazzOne]

IP is my #1 choice as of right now, but I would not be devastated if I ended up working in some other area of law. I could see myself doing corporate or environmental law as well. Jazz, could you just tell me your profile (rank of ug, major (IE?), work experience, graduate degrees etc.) or pm me, which ever. Thank you for all your help.

My UG was a T20 private. My majors were biology (pre-med track) and theology. I worked for a few years managing a mortgage company. I also worked for few years as a laboratory tech in a cancer auto-immunity lab at a local university in my hometown. I also taught MCAT and LSAT for about five years, and I taught high school for a couple years. Some of those jobs overlapped, so I was out of school for a total of nine years before starting law school.

I don't mind sharing information with you, so ask me anything you'd like. The only things I will not reveal are my name and the firms I will be working for this summer.

[dood]

The only things I will not reveal are my name and the firms I will be working for this summer.

prefitigous!

[JazzOne]

The only things I will not reveal are my name and the firms I will be working for this summer.

prefitigous!

It's very common to split your 2L summer in Texas. Well, that was a poor way of phrasing it. It's very common among the students with SA offers. I'm sure there is a sizable portion of my class with no jobs.

[Bosque]

Jazz is right and wrong about the influence undergrad major has on IP hiring. The reason he wasn't able to break in is his undergrad major is biology. It really depends heavily on what area you are in. Pharma(Bio/Chem)? You better have a PhD. EE? Undergrad will do just fine. In fact, for most engineering majors, undergrad is enough. It would certainly help to have higher degrees, but not by much. I would say it is not worth the time or money to get them.

Problem for the op is that IE is not really seen the same way as the other engineering majors are. It he was an EE or and ME, things would be different.

[androstan]

Everyone's saying EE/ME. What about ChE?

[czelede]

And what about AE? My work experience is in the defense industry, on control systems in specific.