Decides whether new inventions deserve a patent at the US Patent and Trademark Office.
You read patent applications in your specialty, like optics or batteries, search for earlier inventions, and decide whether the idea is truly new. Many examiners work from home.
Federal pay scales; rises quickly with experience.
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 science or engineering; trained at the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Computer Science.
Growing about average. BLS does not project this specialty separately; rating estimated from related occupations.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. The USPTO already uses AI to search prior art; examiners stay to make the legal call, but fewer may be hired.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Chemistry, AP Government.
Official data: O*NET occupation 13-1041.
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.