Also called: IP Attorney, Patent Prosecutor
Helps inventors and companies protect inventions with patents and fights patent lawsuits.
A patent attorney reads an engineer's description of a new battery or drug, then writes a precise legal document describing exactly what is new. They go back and forth with the U.S. Patent Office examiner, sometimes for years. You need a science or engineering degree just to sit for the patent bar.
Among the highest-paid specialties; engineering PhDs are prized.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Professional degree (MD, JD, DVM…), about 7 years after high school. Science or engineering bachelor's, JD, state bar, plus the USPTO patent bar exam.
Ways in: 4-year college, Professional school, Certification. Training cost: Over $150k.
Majors to look at: Electrical Engineering, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering.
Growing about average (about 4% over 10 years). BLS projection for all lawyers (2024-34); niche areas vary.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI searches prior art and drafts first patent claims; understanding the invention, strategy and patent fights in court stay human.
Classes: AP Physics or Chemistry, AP Calculus, AP English Language, Engineering CTE class.
Official data: O*NET occupation 23-1011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.