The Intellectual Property Forum

Does anyone know when the hiring freeze is scheduled to be over.  I recall reading on here that the PTO might be taking resumes as early as Sept.  Can anyone verify that?

Malpractice Insurance

I was talking to one of my adjunct professors who has been a solo patent law/IP law practitioner for a little more than a decade now about the topic of malpractice insurance. 

Apparently, malpractice for IP is one of the most expensive types of malpractice insurance.  For a starting solo, he said that it would cost somewhere between $500 and $1000 for someone without any experience.  For those of you who have been practicing for a while, that amount would be less since the premium decreases the longer you practice (without getting sued).  At $6,000 to $12,000 a year, that's a substantial overhead cost. 

A few questions about malpractice insurance: What are some insurance companies that you all shop from (ie how do you get a quote)?  Anyone gone "bareback"?  How does one manage that expense? 

Hello All,

With all the doom and gloom of the economy, a lot of people either have been or are worried about losing their jobs.  Along those lines, I think it would be nice to start a thread about making that big decision to go solo. 

I was hoping this could be a place where people share resources: books, periodicals, seminars, or even blogs.  Maybe a positive story, or one that serves as a warning.  Anything from general advice to the nitty gritty.  For patent agents, patent attorneys, IP attorneys, or attorneys that do IP work.

Here are a few topics that I'd like to throw out there for discussion in no particular order:

Books, blogs and other informational resources,
    Making the decision,
    Finding your niche,
    Setup costs,
    Malpractice insurance,
    Incorporating,
    Advertising,
    Making it those first few months

I was hoping for this to be insightful for anyone whose ever wondered about what it takes to make it on their own.

Thanks for reading.  I hope you choose to share.

I passed a few months back.  Had my letter sent to me 2 weeks later.  Returned it within 1 week.  Had my name posted in the gazette 2 weeks after that. 
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/gcounsel/oed.htm
They didn't receive any letters by the Friday deadline listed in the Gazette, so the following monday after the deadline, I was a patent agent.

Just a little under 2 months from passing to getting your official registration.

I'm a 3L in the top 2% of a top 20 law school who just recently became a patent agent and I am starting to regret going to law school right now. 

The job market really sucks right now.  Every 3L  I have talked to (and I do literally mean every) that had a big firm (National Law Journal 250) job, including myself, has had their start date pushed back until December at the earliest.  Public interest work is becoming almost impossible to get because the people who would be doing big law jobs are taking those jobs - the ones that usually go to the bottom half of the class.  Hanging a shingle in patent litigation is wholly impractical simply by the nature of the beast - it requires a team and it requires experience.  Patent prosecution requires malpractice insurance.  You can't go straight to a mid sized firm without first going to a big firm, because smaller firms don't want to train you.  Plus, the government isn't hiring now, on top of it all. 

But the debt is growing even faster.  My loans are about: $110k (fortunately all federal and all for law school).  I think that I may have to move in back home for a year or so in order to make the monthly payments. 

Before the tyraid of entitlement comments come in: I know nothing was promised and, furthermore, this is not the end of the world.  But what I do think is that law school is not the way to go.  It's too costly because many schools have just been raising tuition as the first-year associate salaries increased.  Now that the economy has tanked, I think that even the most successful recent law school grads are having trouble justifying the huge cost

I think the real evil is that all people (including law school applicants) have a misconception about the return on investment of law school.  Most people see a lawyer and thin they are well off.  Why is that?  The public at large has little to no understanding of the legal system, and have an antiquated notion of lawyers as the wealthy.  Law schools practically lie about their placement and success rates.  Even if you are skeptical of that, in denial of that, or are just a champion of caveat emptor: in this economy, the historic data of law school starting salaries is meaningless. 

I know that I went to law school thinking that I would be able to be a little better off if I worked really hard, got good grades and had a little luck along the way.  Now is not the time to be a law school grad.  I'm thoroughly convinced that for the next few years, I'm going to really struggle just to make ends meat. 

Unless you have a phenomenal financial support network (spouse, family, trust fund), or a substantial scholarship, I really think that law school is not the way to go.  Maybe in a few years, but not right now.

To be brief: go to law school if you want to be a lawyer.  If you don't know what a lawyer does or have any idea if you will like it, I strongly recommend you take a year and go clerk in a firm, or for a court or something LEGAL.  I'll tell you right now: you will almost certainly not get a job at a firm between your 1L and 2L year even if you are in the top quarter in this economy.  And your first year of law school will tell you nothing about what it means to be a lawyer.  So you'll have no better understanding and you'll be a minimum of 20k in debt according to your hypo.

But, since no one ever listens to me anyway: if you're going to go - go to the state school rather than Georgetown.  Save some cash.  You won't become president, a senator, a law professor, or a federal judge if you go to the state school, but, from your description, none of those appear to be on the radar anyway.  Alternatively, if you do well, you can always transfer up.

Hi.  Long time lurker who passed the test last week wed.  Was definitely harder than I thought it was going to be.

Had about 8 or 9 questions on PCT: mostly, what if you enter the national stage without a translation right at the 30 mo deadline, what if you enter the national stage without a specific declaration that you want the app to be a national app claiming the benefit of the pct (what is your filing date, and is it a national app or a reg nonprov)

I had a bunch of questions on reissue (like 6)

A lot of questions on appeals (like : a lot on timing.  One on whether you can get extension of time to keep copendency after you file notice of appeal, but without filing an appellate brief.  Question as to what (in months) extensions you can get for brief, reply brief, request for rehearing.

One question on what docs don't need a signature.  Maybe best to just make a chart about this one.

I had 2 on protest: when can you submit and what can you submit (prior art, public use, etc.).

I had a weird question about a patent practitioner conflict of interest - is it triggered when you represent family members of an applicant. 

Another question on does the Office look into claims of inequitable conduct/fraud on the office: answer: no, but if a judge determines there to be inequitable conduct, the patent office can act because it is not THEM who did the investigation, but a judge. 

The rest was pretty standard: claim construction, tribbel, Costa rica, 1.131 & 1.132

I hope this helps.

Consider the following chart from the National Law Journal about placement in the largest 250 firms.

By region
http://www.law.com/img/nlj/charts/composite.pdf

and by top 100 schools
http://www.law.com/pdf/nlj/20080414employment_trends.pdf

For most Tier 2 schools, if you're not in the top 10%, you're probably not going to be making above 100k.  Be mindful that the average salary for a starting lawyers is a bimodal distribution with humps at 145k and 50k.
http://www.nalp.org/content/index.php?pid=522

Treat law school like an investment.  There's a very good chance you will not succeed; that you will spend 3 years not making money; that you will come out with $150k in debt; and you will only make 60k to start.  In what other circumstance would you give up 150k and three years of your life to make a 60k/yr annual return?

Most importantly, don't get cocky.  Everyone who goes to law school thinks they'll be top 10%.  Yet, 90% won't.  Everyone did well in college: that's why you're in law school.  Sure, engineers are more inclined to logic, but are they more articulate? Are they accustomed to reading at all? 

And when you get out of law school, let's say you do land one of those high-paying firm jobs.  You will earn every last penny that they pay you.  If you're not willing to work 60-70 hour weeks, being a lawyer is not for you.  And if you go to trial: don't plan on sleeping more than 5 hours a night that whole month beforehand.  Do you have a family that will tolerate such a lifestyle?

Oh, and if you can't bring in business, don't plan on making partner.  No matter how many billables you put up, they will let you go after 6 years if you are not bringing in business (or maybe they'll make you senior counsel until it's time for the next round of layoffs). After all, why pay you when they can bring in a new kid who has the potential to bring in a book of business. 

Now, sorry to give you the gloom & doom outlook about law, but I think it's something important for you to recognize that, like every other endeavor, there is a chance for failure.  Granted, your odds of success are higher being an engineer, but you still need to be a good lawyer, too.

If you walk away with one thing, it should be this:
Don't go to law school to get rich.  Go to law school to become a lawyer.  Lawyering is about clients.  That's why it's a profession: we look after people and the problem that come with them. 

My suggestion is to go to law school for one year and see if it works out.  If your grades aren't good (top third or so), be willing to walk away, unless you really want to be a lawyer.  Firms are already closing offices: Sonnenshein just fired all of its summer associates and incoming new attorneys in CLT.  Be mindful that we are in a recession.  You'll hear more about this at the end of the summer, but firms will be cutting back.  Yes, IP litigation is still doing well right now, but firms will be more willing to move associates from other practice groups to IP lit (especially since you don't need an eng background to do lit- some firms have successful business models where they have few science types litigating patent cases) than hire someone they don't know with no trial experience. 

Good luck, just keep in mind that we're going into a recession.