I m getting a sense of deja vu...did you already ask this question before? I thought I answered it that time but maybe I didn t. You do not need an MS or PhD to be a patent lawyer. A BS in bio is fine. (unless you want to do electrical engineering patents, in which case a BS in electrical engineering is better, etc.) You don t need a BS in any specific field to get into law school (a BA or BS in any field will do). And law schools don t require you to declare a quot;majorquot; or apply to a specific quot;programquot; (e.g. patent law). You just take the patent law classes as electives when you are in law school. So, where the BS comes in handy is when you are looking for a JOB, most firms would like to see a background in science if you are asking them to hire you as a patent lawyer. It s not strictly required (some patent lawyers have BS/BA in a non-science field), but it definitely helps. And an advanced degree (MS, PhD) can help even more, but it s not necessary and most patent lawyers i know do not have an MS or PhD; only a BS and a JD. In general, you do not go straight to work for a biotech company (in-house counsel) when you finish law school. Instead, you work for a law firm first (and get experience/training there, plus big $$). And after a few years at the firm, you can change jobs by going quot;in housequot; to a company, like a biotech company (it s easier if the biotech company is one of your firm s clients, because then you have an inside connection--but you can go to other biotech companies as well). At an in-house position, you work directly for the company. So, you get paid less than at a big law firm, but you also work fewer hours and have more free time.
No. You d only need to go to law school after you ve finished college.
Contact your college choices for law school and talk to an advisor. They can tell you what is necessary. You are wanting to become a lawyer who specializes in a specific type of law. Sometimes they require more education but generally its your normal law degree.
No. Getting a master s or PhD might help you a little in getting a job, but they probably aren t worth wasting the years in school. To become a patent lawyer, you must have a bachelor s degree in engineering, computer science, or a quot;hardquot; science (i.e. biology, chemistry, physics.) This is absolutely required and will easily be the most mentally taxing portion of your education. After this, you ll have to get a law degree (3 years) and pass both the quot;patent barquot; (an exam on the rules and procedures of the US Patent and Trademark Office) and the bar examination for the state in which you want to practice. A word of caution, though: Law school isn t everything it s cracked up to be. I d recommend taking at least two years off after undergrad so you can work a real job and see what that s like before you go back to the ivory tower. EDIT: Lux (above) brought up some great points that I didn t think of, but in order to practice before the PTO (i.e. prosecute patents), you DO need a technical degree. I think it s form PTO-158 that specifies this, but you ll be able to find more information on their website at www.uspto.gov .
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