Intellectual property law is a specialized field within the practice of law. Ordinarily, to practice law in the U.S., an aspiring lawyer must obtain an undergraduate degree at a college or university and a law degree at an American law school, and pass the bar examination of one of the 50 states.

Admission to Law School

Applicants to most law schools must take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), administered by the Educational Testing Service of Princeton, New Jersey. Details about dates and places for taking the test may be obtained from any law school or from the Testing Service. This is an aptitude test; a symbolic logic course and a vocabulary development course can be useful in preparation, and reviewing old exams to become familiar with the type of questions asked and the form of the questions is strongly advised.

Law schools consider LSAT scores to be helpful in predicting applicants' chances for success in law school. The applicant's undergraduate academic record will also be a major consideration for admission to law school. In close cases, such factors as work experience, personal recommendations, and relevant extracurricular activities may improve the applicant's chances for admission.

Anyone considering a career in intellectual property law should review the admission requirements of various law schools as early as possible in college.

For most types of law practice, including the practice of most types of intellectual property law, no special undergraduate background is required. (As the next sections of this brochure demonstrate, the practice of patent law is a special case.) Depending on the applicant's interests, certain types of undergraduate and law-school courses may be particularly helpful. Information on these and other aspects of preparation for law study and practice, particularly patent law, as well as employment opportunities in the intellectual property law field, may be found in other sections of this brochure.

Choice of a Law School

Although most law schools have one or more courses in intellectual property law, some emphasize intellectual property law more heavily. These include (but are not limited to) the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law school, Columbia University School of Law, Franklin Pierce Law Center, George Mason University Law School, George Washington University National Law Center, John Marshall School of Law, New York University School of Law, Santa Clara University, University of Baltimore School of Law, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, University of Houston Law Center, University of Southern California Law Center, University of Washington School of Law and Vanderbilt University School of Law. Addresses and other useful information will be found in the Appendix of this brochure.

Financing Your Legal Education

If finances are a consideration, the law school applicant should ask about fees and living costs at various state and private schools. Generally, the overall cost at a state university for a resident of the state is considerably less than the cost elsewhere.

Scholarships, government loans, student loans and grants are available at most schools. Students needing financial aid should carefully study these sources. Listings of scholarships and grants offered in this country are available in public libraries. Most financial aid for law students is administered by the individual law schools and is described in their catalogs. Government loans may also be arranged through the school. Applicants should carefully review all possible sources of financial aid before deciding on any one for assistance.

Many students finance part of their legal education by clerking for law firms, working for corporations or obtaining other employment in the summers and part-time during the second and third years of law school. Some law schools have programs that enable students to work full-time during the day and study law in the evenings, spreading out what would otherwise be a three-year course of study over a period of four or five years.

Many patent lawyers practicing today obtained their legal education by working during the daytime and attending law school at night. Students who attend a law school in the Washington, D.C. area may be able to secure a daytime position with the USPTO. Valuable experience, as well as financial support, can also be gained by clerking in patent law firms, or by training in the patent departments of some large corporations. Some patent law firms and corporations actually hire people with undergraduate degrees in technical fields and pay their way through law school.

For employment opportunities in the USPTO, law students should contact the Employment Officer, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20231. Corporations and patent law firms can be contacted through school placement bureaus and through advertisements in trade journals, such as the Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society. Additional information may be obtained from the Section of Intellectual Property Law of the ABA; the AIPLA (in fact, during its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., the AIPLA conducts a job fair); and the numerous local intellectual property law associations.

Bar Associations

Law students can join the Section of Intellectual Property Law of the ABA and AIPLA (the two largest intellectual property law organizations in the world) as student members. Members are entitled to receive interesting and useful publications. Students who are willing to serve on committees can learn more about particular issues in intellectual property law, and make contacts with practicing intellectual property lawyers which may be useful in the future.

Information about joining these organizations can be obtained from the ABA and the AIPLA at the addresses listed in the Appendix to this brochure.

Competitions

The AIPLA sponsors the annual Giles Sutherland Rich Moot Court Competition for law students, which focuses on intellectual property law issues. The AIPLA also gives the Watson Award for the best published intellectual property law paper by a student. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) annually sponsors the Nathan Burkan Memorial Competition, and awards five national prizes for papers on copyright law. The U.S. Trademark Association (USTA) sponsors the Ladas Award for the best article each year on trademark law. In addition, the USTA sponsors the Saul Lefkowitz National Moot Court Competition for law students, which focuses on trademark law issues.

Admission to the Bar

Graduates of law schools accredited by the ABA are eligible to take the bar examination in any state. As part of the evaluation of every bar application, the state bar examiners conduct an inquiry into the applicant's character and fitness for the profession. Applicants whose character and fitness are approved and who pass the state's bar exam are sworn in as attorneys in that state, and are then eligible to practice law and try cases in the courts of that state. Additional steps are required to enable newly qualified attorneys to practice in other states and before the federal courts.

Once admitted to practice in any state, a lawyer is entitled to practice most types of intellectual property law in that state without further certification. However, for the privilege of practicing patent law before the USPTO, a lawyer must obtain additional certification-as the next section of this brochure indicates.