Education
Intellectual property lawyers go through training just like any other lawyer.
Aspiring lawyers usually have a full four-year degree before starting law
school. Then, they must write an aptitude test (the LSAT) to get into a three-year
law degree program.
In university, they may decide to specialize in intellectual property law.
But they'll probably get most of their experience when they work with a law
firm geared to helping clients in those areas.
It's a good idea to earn a B.S. degree rather than a liberal arts degree
if you want to be a patent lawyer. Most patent lawyers have a degree in engineering
or the sciences.
"It's an area of the law that seems to be becoming increasingly harder
and harder to get your foot in the door, just because a lot of the firms are
looking for more and more specialists -- people with the requisite technical
background," says IP lawyer Darryl Bilodeau. He has a degree in electrical
engineering in addition to his law degree.
"That's why when you look at a lot of the announcements [of newly hired
patent lawyers] posted by a lot of the IP firms, many of their new associates
have graduate degrees in engineering or the sciences," Bilodeau adds.
IP lawyer Kenan Farrell agrees.
"In order to be a patent attorney you do have to have a science or engineering
background, so that is crucial," says Farrell.
"But I do primarily copyright and trademark work, in which case you do
not have to have really any particular background at all... but something
like a business or marketing degree would be helpful for a lot of the issues
that you encounter in a typical day-to-day IP practice."
Patent lawyers in the U.S. and Canada must take additional exams in order
to practice patent law.