Need ADVICE On Career Path!!! Patent Examiner vs. Law School

[Rusmarste]

I was informed a few days ago that the USPTO is now hiring GS-7/9 examiners again.  My dilemma is that I have also applied and received an acceptance from a law school.  I applied for the examiners position a couple of days ago when I became aware of the opening and I received the email indicating that I am eligible.  The potential difficult decision I am facing is the July 23rd deadline of my final letter of intent to the law school.  I know that the patent examiner hiring process is notoriously slow and it would be very difficult to turn down law school when unsure of being hired by the USPTO.  The main reason I applied for law school was to break into the IP industry.  Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on this?  I was one of the "lucky" few to apply 2/19/09 a few weeks before they shut down hiring across the board at the USPTO. 

Thanks

[klaviernista]

A number of factors come into play when deciding whether to go to law school, including age, marital status, financial status (do you have a mortgage to pay), etc.  You know, all that stuff that no employer or school can ask about in an interview.

Regardless of how those factors may play out, given the current state of the market I recommend that you strongly consider exploring the opportunity with the PTO, even if your ultimate goal is to end up in private practice.  Some people on this board disagree, but I have found that PTO experience can be a distinguishing factor, both for law school admissions AND for job seeking activities.  Moreover, the current market for patent agents and attorneys with no experience is terrible, and may not pick up for several years.  And when the market does pick up (I'm still optomisitc that it will), newly minted attorneys will be part of a much larger applicant pool, comprised of all the attorneys and agents from 2009-whenever that could not get a job due to the recession.

Note that there is a "residence" time element to PTO experience if your ultimate goal is to end up in private law practice.  Spending a few years as a USPTO examiner will often be seen as value added experience by patent law firms.  But once you have spent a significant amount of time at the PTO, some negative stigma may attach.  This is attributable to the somewhat negative reputation examiners as a whole have in the professional patent community (however unwarranted that reputation may be).

That being said, being a patent examiner is not a bad career option, provided you know what you are getting into.  I've said it before and I will say it again.  There are few career opportunities that offer a better work life balance than patent examining.  Whether those benefits outweigh the negative aspects of examining (primarily boredom) depends on the particular individual involved.

Good luck in whatever you decide.  If you want to chat with someone who has been at through what you are contemplating, drop me a PM.

Best,

Klav

[blakesq]

You have to decide what you want to do in your career.  do you want to be a patent examiner or a lawyer?  These are two very different things.  in the first, you will be in a government job, making money right away.  in the other, presumably, you will be in school for 3 years without making money, and spending money fast, with hopefully the chance to make up the lost income after you graduate.  In law school you may learn that you would rather litigate as opposed to writing and prosecuting patent applications.  You may learn that you prefer family law, or wills and estates, or tax, etc etc.  If you become a patent examiner, you may hate your job or love it.  If you hate it, will you still have the opportunity to go back to law school?  If so, having patent examiner experience under your belt should help you break into patent law AFTER law school. 

how much is law school going to cost you?  is it a highly ranked law school?  If it is a low ranked private law school, you may be $100k in debt in 3 years, with very few job prospects.  Good luck!!

I was informed a few days ago that the USPTO is now hiring GS-7/9 examiners again.  My dilemma is that I have also applied and received an acceptance from a law school.  I applied for the examiners position a couple of days ago when I became aware of the opening and I received the email indicating that I am eligible.  The potential difficult decision I am facing is the July 23rd deadline of my final letter of intent to the law school.  I know that the patent examiner hiring process is notoriously slow and it would be very difficult to turn down law school when unsure of being hired by the USPTO.  The main reason I applied for law school was to break into the IP industry.  Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on this?  I was one of the "lucky" few to apply 2/19/09 a few weeks before they shut down hiring across the board at the USPTO. 

Thanks

[ChiefJRoberts]

I can't believe I haven't chimed in on this yet. To me it all depends on what law school you are going to. If it is a top 15 school, I would go to law school. If it is a lower ranked law school, I would reconsider the PTO opportunity. Like one of the posters above stated, getting PTO experience before going to law school will help you immensely for getting a job after law school or during the summer of your 2L year. Law firms will look at you and say "this guy has examiner experience already and knows the ins and outs of the patent application process."

At a tier 2 or lesser school, it is tough to find work. There is no guarantee that when you do finish law school the economy will get better. If the school is lower tier 1, it is still tough.

[Biff]

I was informed a few days ago that the USPTO is now hiring GS-7/9 examiners again.  My dilemma is that I have also applied and received an acceptance from a law school.  I applied for the examiners position a couple of days ago when I became aware of the opening and I received the email indicating that I am eligible.  The potential difficult decision I am facing is the July 23rd deadline of my final letter of intent to the law school.  I know that the patent examiner hiring process is notoriously slow and it would be very difficult to turn down law school when unsure of being hired by the USPTO.  The main reason I applied for law school was to break into the IP industry.  Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on this?  I was one of the "lucky" few to apply 2/19/09 a few weeks before they shut down hiring across the board at the USPTO. 

Thanks

Easy.

Defer the law school acceptabce; call it a day.  Give the PTO a whirl; reassess if necessary.

[JustAnotherExaminer]

I was informed a few days ago that the USPTO is now hiring GS-7/9 examiners again.  My dilemma is that I have also applied and received an acceptance from a law school.  I applied for the examiners position a couple of days ago when I became aware of the opening and I received the email indicating that I am eligible.  The potential difficult decision I am facing is the July 23rd deadline of my final letter of intent to the law school.  I know that the patent examiner hiring process is notoriously slow and it would be very difficult to turn down law school when unsure of being hired by the USPTO.  The main reason I applied for law school was to break into the IP industry.  Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on this?  I was one of the "lucky" few to apply 2/19/09 a few weeks before they shut down hiring across the board at the USPTO. 

Thanks

Go PTO. Then reapply to local schools for part time in a couple years.
Pay for law school with PTO earnings.