Meeting with a patent attorney

My Meeting with Melissa went very well. Not only did I learn lots about the field and her story but I also received a free lunch out of it. But I digress...

 She was very open about what she did, how she got there and in sharing opinions about many related items.

I learned that she took the PLI patent bar exam course and that the studying was in fact around the 200 hours that I had read about. She also mentioned considering a law degree in that it would ultimately amount to more money for doing basically the same thing as a patent agent.

She also recommended perhaps auditing the patent law course after I took my course through the graduate school and also told me about a Women in IP group that is like a net working get together organization here in Madison.

She also mentioned that a patent agent position is essentially an apprenticeship for the first year, as you are brought up to speed on the job with the duties you are expected to carry out.

Many of her reasons for transitioning including not wanting to go into academia or being in a lab are similar reasons that I am interested in the field at this point in time.

I am planning to  connect with some more people at the WARF and see if I can't pick their brains about their jobs and how they got a position there.

Upcoming meeting

I will be meeting with an actual patent attorney on Saturday to glean more of what it is like to work in the field. I also want to figure out how she prepared for the bar exam and what she thinks of the position.

School is starting soon and I am looking forward to entering the realm of organized learning once again. I am hoping this is the right decision for myself.

Some people to contact who graduated from the biotechnology masters program are the following with the end goal to see if their participation helped or helps them in where they are now.

https://www.warf.org/home/about-us/employee-directory/detienne-andy.cmsx

https://www.warf.org/home/about-us/employee-directory/bauer-emily.cmsx

Updates and charting a career path...

Many updates to provide, one of the most exciting being that I was accepted into the masters in biotechnology program here at the UW.

Now comes the part where I need to determine what direction I want to go with this new degree and set of skills.

As of recent, I was looking at some of the positions at the WARF , many involving commericalization of technology and intellectual property. One of the employees had this Patent Agent thing behind their title and so upon further research, I discovered that having a hard science bachelor's sets me up nicely for becoming a patent agent if I so choose.

There is a challenging exam akin to passing the law bar which a patent agent must study and sit for, but if you pass you become able to process patents and carry out the duties that come with it.

I think that would be a nice segue from what I do now and while it would not be in the lab science, it would still be getting to work at the forefront of that field if I so chose.