Would some of our regulars who work outside the U.S. be so kind as to discuss how to job-hunt, what requirements their various countries have for foreign attorneys, and so on?
For example, I've heard that Japan requires that, in order to give legal advice (e.g., write opinion letters), a foreign attorney must have three years of post-graduate experience in their home country. Would this mean that, were I to go there to work, I would be restricted to the role of a patent agent?
Hi there. Strange as it may sound, the distinction between patent attorney and patent agent doesn't exist in many countries outside of the US. This is because in Europe, Australia and New Zealand most prosecution work is done by firms of patent agents and very little by law firms. Litigation is carried out by law firms - I don't know much about it.
From what I understand, if you are working in Japan the clients will be Japanese and any legal advice will be in Japanese, so you would not be giving any advice directly. While the patent attorney exam in Japan is very hard, you will not be taking it unless you have fluent Japanese (and even then there may be a nationality requirement). Rather you would be employed in-house or by a law firm as an expert in foreign law. You could expect to be involved in drafting, proof reading, marketing and possibly direct filing in the US (see below). China is similar, but the emphasis is on overseas rather than domestic clients - your main value would be interfacing with those foreign clients. Some multinationals employ in-house in China, but are increasingly looking for Chinese language skills or (cheaper) local hire.
Taiwan has a very strong focus on US, so you could probably get a job there on the back of your US qualification if you looked hard. Salaries are tiny, but so are living expenses. I imagine Brazil is similar.
Singapore, Hong Kong, Europe, Australia, New Zealand all have English as the working language, so qualification and more direct work with clients is possible in those jurisdictions.
Beware that in Europe the US patent bar is not well respected, because it is considered to be an easy multiple choice exam, and the attorney qualification is considered largely irrelevant to prosecution work. Decent work experience of 3+ years in the US would be respected however. I am sure the US patent bar is not easy - but that is the perception. That is because the European exam involves 4 written papers of 4-6 hours each which grade you on drafting a patent specification, response to an office action, drafting an opposition and providing pages of legal advice for rather complicated situations. It cannot even be attempted without 3 years experience and many people only pass after 5 years on the job.
If you want to work in Europe then you could get a job, but would need to requalify (training on the job). It takes a minimum of 3 years. You would also need to prove yourself as the US system is quite different to that in Europe. You could expect to receive quite a drop in pay during that time (as European attorneys are paid less and you may be considered only part-qualified), but the experience of living abroad, at least 25 days vacation a year plus public holidays and good work life balance with hours of 9am - 5 or 6pm and no or much less billing requirements. Conditions in Australia and New Zealand are similar, but I believe it is easier and quicker to qualify. In Singapore you would have to take one top up exam on local law, but the US qualification is much more respected. HK is unregulated but a US qualification would put you in good stead.
Some firms and companies may be interested in hiring you to file directly at the USPTO. I have seen adverts for such roles in UK, Germany and Japan. They seem to be on the increase.
For job hunting in order of preference try:-
existing contacts at overseas associates
internet search, job boards, and in particular headhunters in the country of interest
write speculative letter directly to firms of interest
As well as relevant experience in US, emphasize contacts you have in US (which might lead to work), and experience of international patents and first to file systems (especially for Europe).
Hope that helps.
