Patent attorney trainee
 

I don't have top grades nor top brains.

Barely made it out of NTU alive with B.Eng EEE.

After nearly 3 years since graduation, annual salary nearly hit 50k before I changed job (seeking worklife balance) and now only make ~45k. I still run projects but the manufacturing line is so dead that I am looking at a career change. I rather exercise my brain and toil while I still have some youth in me...

Considering joining a law firm as patent executive / patent attorney trainee. Signing up for GCIP and going to challenge the 4 QE exams. It will be another 3 years before I can get certified.

Wondering if I can hit 150k by late 30s... Anyone done this route and willing to share the more "confidential" side of their experience? From my research, I see a number (not many) of engineer turned patent attorneys who have made partner in some law firm.

This path will hopefully keep me in touch with some of the technical stuff in engineering that I still like, let me write (which I enjoy quite a fair bit) and do something meaningful (meet clients etc instead of designing circuits all day everyday).

How long does it take to fully transit from an engineer to a practising patent attorney?

As mentioned, I am targeting 3 years. It IS doable. If you squeeze everything together and do well, theoretically it can be done in 1~1.5 years as IPOS does not limit the sequence etc of fulfilling the requirements. However the intensity and all the unknowns right now are very daunting to me. Looking for people who have walked this path to share their experiences. I have only heard from 2 so far (somewhat).

Hi there,

No worries and be confident in yourself! :)

Personally, I found that it was a challenging time for me when I was dealing with job interview and assessment with different firms! And my group of friends also went through the similar procedures recently and luckily, we all secured permanent job offers from big firms and investment banking industry.

Currently, we are helping job seekers (who are looking for a career in banking and finance industry) to prepare for interview and assessment at different stages. You are most welcome to contact us at [email protected] or +65 8226 8045.

For more information, kindly check out our blog at Bestop Career Consulting - Bringing You Closer to Dream Jobs

Thank you and good luck :)

Bestop Career Consulting

I do not think that being a patent engineer will enable you to be a partner of a law firm. To be a partner you would need to be called to the bar and have at least 4 to 5 yrs PQE in a local firm or 7 to 8 yrs PQE in international firm.

At best you will be some kind of legal manager.

When I started the thread, I did not intend to work for an engineering firm. ie. I was not considering become a patent engineer.

Just to clarify. There are no positions for a patent engineer in a law firm. As an engineer making the complete switch to a patent agent/attorney, you will need to fulfill IPOS's criteria here: Patent Agents Information
Associates/attorneys then have a chance to make partner after n years of experience with the same firm and a certain clientele base or just buy into it if possible.

This is the carrot they commonly dangle in front of newbies to pyscho you to join them, but in reality the chances of that happening is so rare that it should be treated as exceptional case. They are betting that by the time you firgure it all out, you would have been trapped in there for too long with little alternatives.

I can see that being absolutely true...

Are you hoping to be a partner in a law firm after clearing the IPOS courses?

I hope to clear the course, the 4 QE and internship in 3years max and become a Singapore registered patent attorney (not lawyer) with ~6k basic salary a month. Possible? Don't mind doing the internship for the whole 3years if it will help to achieve this with more certainty.