Also called: Prior Art Searcher, Patent Search Analyst
Hunts through patents and scientific papers worldwide to find whether an invention already exists.
Searchers get a description of an invention and comb databases in many languages for anything similar, then write a report for a law firm or company. It's detective work for science lovers and can be done from anywhere.
Estimate; many are freelancers or work for search firms.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in a science or engineering field; training on patent databases.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Engineering, Chemistry, Biology, Physics.
Growing about average. Stable demand from patent law firms.
High risk for 10 years. AI semantic search across global patents and papers now does much of the hunting; fewer searchers needed beyond expert review.
Classes: AP Physics or Chemistry, Computer science, A world language, AP English Language.
Official data: O*NET occupation 23-2099.
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.