Patent Law Practice Center

How Law Students Can Find a Job

Whenever I speak at law schools, I inevitably get asked questions about what students should be doing to (1) set themselves up in a position to be hired; and (2) ultimately land a job.  With that in mind, I thought it might make sense to cover some steps that can be taken to help find a legal job in this field.

1. Take and pass the patent bar exam

For virtually everyone, the best advice one can give now is to take and pass the patent bar exam while you are in law school.  First, the job market is tough and anything you can do to set yourself apart will be helpful.  Second, if you pass, you will be a patent agent, which opens up the possibility that you might be able to get some relevant work experience during your law school career, helping you bridge the gap toward obtaining that 2+ years experience that firms all say they want.

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IP Intensive Industries Support 40 Million Jobs, According to US Dept. of Commerce

Last week, the U.S. Department of Commerce released the report entitled, “Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: Industries in Focus,” which highlighted the connection between Intellectual Property intensive-industries along with job creation and its relation to the U.S. economy. The report by the Economics and Statistics Administration and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) identified 75 industries (from among 313, total) as IP-intensive.

The findings support a message President Obama and USPTO director David Kappos have been reiterating for some time: innovation is the key to economic growth within the United States. According to the USPTO, “The report not only estimates the contributions of these industries to the U.S. economy, but also gauges the ripple, or domino, effects they have on employment throughout the economy.”  The report specifically found that: (more…)