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[BioAgent]

Hi everyone,
                 I am just finishing up a Ph.D in immunology in the UK and would really like to become a patent agent/attorney. My issue is that I would really like to work in the US. I have made a few speculative applications and am getting the impression that trainee positions are few and far between in the US and that the extra headache of employing a non-US citizen is simply not worth it with the extra expense etc. Does anybody know whether if I successfully train in the UK as a patent agent and qualify for the EPO and UKIPO these qualifications are in any way transferrable? I appreciate that the experience would be helpful nonetheless but would I have to start again as a trainee at a US firm if I moved later?

Any other tips on transitioning from the UK to the US in this regard are also extremely welcome.

Thanks in advance.

[NJ Patent1]

BioAgent;  Sorry, but your hunch is correct.  “Trainee” positions are rare and, given the unemployment situation, it would be very difficult to get the required visa.  Having said that, if you were registered in the UK and EPO and working for a law firm that also has a prosecution practice in the US, you might be able to land a temporary transfer to the US office.
Also, I’m not aware of any reciprocity between the USPTO and EPO as it concerns cross-registration.  But, as far as I am aware, you could sit for the USPTO exam.  The relative scarcity of cross-registered agents is something an employer could argue on a visa application.
Good luck!

[MarkDighton]

The prior post may be misleading if its understood to mean that you can sit for the US Patent Office Registration Exam from the UK or even in the US while here on a tourist visa or the like. You have to have at least a work visa in order to be able to sit for the US Patent Office Registration Exam in the first place. That may seem like a "Catch 22," since you maybe can't get hired unless you are already qualified to act as an Agent (i.e., have passed the Exam). In appropriate cases, US firms WILL bring you to the US, employ you as a technical specialist and sponsor you for a work visa so that you can sit for the Exam. But those cases are few and far between in this market. You really would have to have some extraordinary expertise that they couldn't find in someone who already has a visa, "green card" or citizenship. I haven't seen it recently except in the case of PhDs with significant experience and/or fluency in an Asian language.
Mark Dighton, Esq.
Admin. Director, Patent Bar Review
PLI

[BioAgent]

Thanks both for the advice; this forum seems to be the only place out there to get good information like this. It sounds as though this is going to be something of an uphill struggle for me, but at least I now know where I stand.

Something I have noticed which is quite different between the UK and US systems is that in the UK trainee positions appear to have remained in relative abundance throughout the downturn. Many of the well known firms are still specifically advertising for patent agent trainee positions over here, whereas in the US it appears very difficult to find firms that are actively recruiting. Many of the UK firms hold open days for prospective trainees in the coming few months and then have application deadlines in December/January for start dates in summer/autumn next year; it's a very clearly defined track into the profession. In my (limited admittedly) experience this does not appear to be the case in the US? The only company I could find that mentioned a trainee programme of any sort was Fitzpatrick Cella.

Anyway thanks again for your help.

[NJ Patent1]

BioAgent:  First, thanks to MD for noting the visa requirement for sitting for the USPTO exam that I (embarrassed) did not check for before I responded to your post.  Mea maxima culpa.  But my apology is not the only reason I type.  You make some interesting (at least for me) observations wholly unrelated to patent law.  The differences between the US and UK that you note or allude to are, I think, cultural, “institutional”, perhaps formalistic, or all three. 
Before I became a patent attorney, I had the opportunity to work in DE as a bench chemist in R&D for a huge chemical company in FfM.  DE is not the UK (Lord Churchill forgive me for mentioning both in the same sentence!).  But at first blush, I see some similarities in the employee development - “ausbildung” if you will - systems in DE and UK that are, IMO, markedly different from those here in the US, to the extent that such systems even exist here.
In the US, employment contracts are the exception, not the rule (and almost unheard of in the legal profession).  In our ultra-capitalistic society one is (unrealistically?) expected to hit the ground running out of the U.  Apprenticeship formally exists only in the manual trades.  Although IMO learning patent drafting is very much an apprenticeship endeavor.  IMO, the craft of patent drafting cannot be taught, only acquired.  But law firms here don’t acknowledge this with formal “apprenticeship” programs, contrary to what from your post appears to be the case in the UK.  . 
To be sure, positions in industry in the US are oft denominated “level-I”, level-II”, “level III”, etc.  But except for rare circumstances, the numerals change only with longevity and/or luck.  Only vaguely related to increased competency.  The only exceptions I know of are in sales.  Positions denominated “sales trainee” - i.e. you earn subsistence wage- whilst you lean to pick pockets -are not uncommon  . 

[plex]

That is my impression as well of the entry level patent prosecution situation in the US.  Trainee programs are extremely rare outside of limited positions available while in law school.  Agents and attorneys are usually, at least officially, expected to hit the ground running nearly immediately, even though there is actually a large learning curve to patent drafting.

[UVAgal4]

There are no cross-registration provisions. (believe me, I asked). If you were to gain experience as a UK/EPA patent drafting and prosecution, I think a US firm would be interested. However, you wouldn't be able to formally practice before the EPO if your primary place of business is not in Europe (for the UK office, I don't know.)

[ajent]

To practice before the European Patent Office you have to be citizen(of a member country). In comparison, in the US it's quite easy to practice before the USPTO you just need residency and the USPTO doesn't even bother to see if you meet that (low) hurdle. If you can get your PhD in immuno, the USPTO exam should be a piece of cake for you.

[UVAgal4]

No, you can practice before the EPO without being a citizen of a member country, but you have to have your main place of work in a member country.

[Ahmed80]

Thanks! This is something I've really missed and was very happy to find.