Patent Attorney Job Search

I didn't realize that so many days have passed since my post about the bathtub. It's surprising to me that when I catch a cold or get sick, I stay sick for so many days. I'm just getting over my cold from last week now. Here are some updates on things that are going on in my life:

WIFE WANTING TO LEAVE THE STATE:

The "wife wanting to leave the state" issue has since been resolved. It was simply a matter of putting my foot down in a loving way, and then having my wife go through a grieving process. It was tough though, but the point I wanted to drive home to her was that wherever she is, that is where she should be living -- not in some other place. This in essence (after all the defensive reasons of why we should specifically be in this state) was what I wanted her to acknowledge.

PATENT ATTORNEY JOB SEARCH:

I am starting to feel as if I desperately need a job and that I am not doing what I should be doing to get one. Until a dinner meeting yesterday with a law school friend that I trust, I was under the impression that all I had to do was pass the patent registration exam to practice before the USPTO and then all my job searching troubles would be solved.

I was informed last night over dinner that my narrow-minded ideals were off-base. If I am to get a job as a patent attorney, I have to do whatever I can to get a job because the field is so competitive in our state.

My options are to 1) apply for and get a job in another state (my wife would love this option); 2) move to Washington DC and work for the US government to defend them against patent infringement suits (to get massive amounts of experience, and to "write my own ticket" into a great job in a few years); or, 3) just start MASSIVELY NETWORKING with other lawyers and other law associations.

In short, I realize that I need to significantly change my approach and get way more aggressive in my patent law job search. I will start today.

I passed the Patent Bar Exam today.

To my closest friends and family:

I wanted to share the news that I passed the US Patent Registration Exam today.

The exam was very difficult, and I felt that they were testing more on whether I knew how to search the MPEP (patent examination manual) rather than whether I memorized the thousands of rules that I did. The first half of the exam was very difficult; I wasn't sure I passed -- I didn't even quite finish or review ANY of the MANY questions I was unsure about and wanted to review if there was time. There wasn't.

During the lunch break, since most of the past exams that I took broadly covered the MPEP's chapters (with the usual weightings on Chapters 700, 2100, etc.), instead of eating lunch, I took a few bites and I looked over my notes for the topics that they DIDN'T yet ask about -- I quickly reviewed those rules. Sure enough, that was EXACTLY what they tested on. I wouldn't be surprised if I scored a perfect 50/50 on the second half.

At the end of the exam, I received the good news, along with a print out and a signed and stamped letter for my records that I passed the exam.

I wish you all the best, and I am very thankful for the support you have all given me while I studied for this exam, and all the others that preceded it.

Warm regards,
Zoe Strickman

US PATENT BAR EXAM DATE SET FOR FEBRUARY 12TH, 2007

Okay, it's official. My USPTO Patent Bar Exam is scheduled for FEBRUARY 12, 2007!

Your appointment for the computer-based U.S PATENT REGISTRATION EXAM is confirmed.

Please find the confirmation details that follow:
Client Candidate Id: XXXXX
Confirmation: 00000000XXXXXXXX
Program: United States Patent and Trademark Office
Exam Code: USPRE - U.S PATENT REGISTRATION EXAM
Exam Date: 12 Feb 2007
Exam Time: 09:00 (8 hrs)
Prometric Test Center

Okay, so this is it. As if I weren't already in crunch time. Now we're in super-crunch time-bar-review-mode. Honestly, I feel totally panicked, as if I am going to fail and all this studying will be for nothing. Nah, then again, I've studied diligently for months.

I completed the PLI Patent Bar Exam Home Study Course, a MONUMENTAL achievement. I passed the bar exam without a sweat on my brow; another monumental achievement. This is just ONE MORE STEP on the pathway from here to where I want to be. I can do this. I can.

All I need to do is to keep doing what I have been doing, just faster and more often. I need to get my times in order and get my body used to the conditions of an 8 hour exam. I need to take exams in 4 hour blocks, ideally twice in a day. That will condition me for the exam.

This is the end of my journey. This, other than the job search and interview process, is the last hurdle before I can start working as an attorney. I am very excited about this.

- Zoe

PS - One thing that I think is cowardish of me to mention is the thought of canceling or rescheduling if my scores are not high enough to pass the exam. There is no fee to cancel or reschedule the exam date, as long as 1) I call 2 business days in advance of the exam date by 12pm, and 2) that I reschedule the exam by the middle of April 2007, the end of the window of when I can take the exam. I SERIOUSLY DO NOT WANT TO RESCHEDULE, but if I won't pass, a reschedule might be the only option. The problem -- for me, at least -- is that knowing I have some kind of an out makes me feel that it is okay to slack off just a little bit because there is a way out.

Napoleon burned his ships after he landed with his troops on the enemy's shore to show his troops that there is NO FLEEING and NO TURNING BACK. The two options are VICTORY or DEATH. I need to feel the same way.

MOCK Patent Bar Exam Results

I just finished and graded the final exam for the patent course that I've been taking. Anything between 70%-80% means that I would be ready to take the patent bar exam with minimal post-course work. (There is another 80 hours of post-course work to boost up my final score average.)

I got 68% correct. (34 correct answers out of 50 questions).

Are you psyched??? This means that I am very close to being ready to take the exam, and all that I need is just a bit of fine tuning and memorizing information.

Timewise, I finished the 3 hour exam in 1 hour and 20 mins and I still got the score that I did.

This means that since the MPEP (Patent Manual from which many questions are taken) contains most of the answers to the questions, at this rate, I will be able to use the remaining 1.5 hours to simply look up answers to difficult questions.

Anyway, I just wanted to share the news.

Over-qualified? I thought that was a cliche'.

Well, I had my interview this afternoon. I was supposed to meet with four attorneys, but one of them refused to see me. I was a little bit confused, especially since he was the head patent guy in the Company for whom I would be working.

In short, my interview was a DISASTER. The management whom I met with jumped all over the idea of training an attorney and paying me as a paralegal so that I can "get my foot in the door" and "learn the ropes of the business world while at the same time learning the real workings of a corporate IP department." However, the attorneys were appaled by the idea. They said that I was overqualified, and that I didn't belong in the Company as a paralegal. I tried to convince them that I was "starting at the bottom, like in the mail room" to no avail. They were right; I didn't belong there as a paralegal.

Further, the attorneys said that they wouldn't feel comfortable bossing me around, especially because I would be their equal and/or superior in knowledge in status, especially once I passed the patent bar. I am specialized in patent law, and it was written all over my resume. Part of me wondered whether they just didn't like the idea of an attorney (or in my case, a soon-to-be-admitted-attorney who has passed the bar exam) to work as a paralegal. Another part of me thought that I would have gotten the job if I erased the words "Juris Doctor" from my resume as if I never went to law school, ever. Most of me knew they were concerned that I wouldn't stick around in a medium-paying paralegal position after being sworn in as an attorney and so they would be wasting their time training me. I thought they were right.

On this topic, I spoke to the human resources guy about this issue before I even went on the interview -- he said that it was his (and management's) intention to train me as a paralegal for the short-term with the intention of having me move up to the ranks of attorney after a year or so of familiarizing myself with the business and the technology. I thought this was a good idea.

However, when I walked out of there, I was sure that I was walking out alone; ...WITHOUT the job.

On a positive note, today I learned a big lesson -- ATTORNEYS SHOULD NOT APPLY FOR PARALEGAL POSITIONS. That wasn't the lesson, but the rule. The lesson I learned was that I should finish up what I have been working on (namely, the patent bar) and I should take that G-d forsaken exam and get it over with and start working at a regular firm. This was the plan until I got the e-mail last week from the HR manager of the Company who saw my resume and thought it would be a good idea if I applied for the paralegal position.

Anyway, back to the patent bar.

Patent Bar - Sprinting to the Finish Line...

> Dear Zoe,

> Wow your ALMOST done!

> I have a question, How are you doing this? Are you following in the Study guide as you listen to the CD or taking notes or both?

> Or are you reading the study guide after you listen to the CD?

> - Danny

Dear Danny,
That question cost me 5 months to figure out.

This is the method they tell you to follow on the tapes:
Step 1) pre-read the chapter before you listen to the audio.
2) Listen to the audio
3) Then after listening to the audio, shut off tape and do questions and/or exercises / practice exams.
4) Resume tape and go over questions and answers
5) Do lunch homeworks and mini-exams when instructed.
6) Continue onto the next tape.

Believe it or not, this has been EXACTLY what I have been doing up until last week.

Since last week, I've decided to pick up the pace to finish this thing so that I can start working already. So I spoke to my wife and decided to hit this course 1000% [bar review mode] for two weeks. I hope to finish the course using the modified method below:

I've altered steps 1) & 3) and I have started to pause the tape as I get to new topic headings and skim the chapter contents, then I listen to the audio while looking at the book, all the while taking notes in the margins. At the end of the tape, I return to the study guide and go over the notes again, but this time in more detail because I've heard the overview from the tape. I make notes, transfer them out of the book, and keep going. Keeping going means not stopping for phone calls or snack breaks or anything until you have ABSOLUTELY NO ENERGY left to keep your eyes open and you must shower, daven, and sleep. This has been my life for almost the past week.

Oh, and I've found that it is SIGNIFICANTLY HELPFUL to speed up his speaking because he is very slow. The only way I could figure out how to do this was that I installed a program on my iPod mini 2g (called rockbox) that allows me to speed up his voice, because otherwise it would take me HOURS to get through a CD. So I sped his voice up using the "pitch" feature to 130% and now he goes at a respectable pace. Microsoft MediaPlayer probably has a similar feature.

Lastly, the past two days have been dedicated to transferring all my notes to Microsoft OneNote and creating mnemonics, Pieper Bar Review style.

I know this is a long answer to the short question, but I wanted to share with you the full experience. I can't wait until this is over. Soon. Very soon.

Zoe Strickman

PS - One more thing -- don't stop. Make this a marathon until it's over or else you might lose momentum and get totally bored and distracted from the density of this material. If you keep moving, you can blow right past the boring parts and not get stuck. That was my hard lesson -- don't stop or it will take you triple the time to start back up again.

Waiting for the patent bar exam date to arrive...

Now is the silence before the tumultuous finale. I've passed the bar. I've gotten married. I have a child 5 months on the way. I've studied for the patent bar and registered for the exam. I've applied for jobs. Now I'm in a holding pattern, waiting for things to happen (although actually like a duck in a pond)...

I am not yet finished with the studying for the patent bar, but at least I've made a regimen of studying for a certain number of hours each day and I've stuck to it. I would say that I am 3/4 of the way finished, which is both exciting for me and scary.

I sent in my paperwork to the patent office weeks ago to register for the exam plus the paperwork and the documentation to prove that I am eligible to become a patent attorney. The funny thing is that I received a letter from the patent office stating that they didn't believe that my middle initial was really my middle name, and they asked me to resubmit my application, this time providing my middle name. The problem is that I don't have one; I only have a middle initial.

I called up the director at the patent office and told him that my middle initial IS my middle name, and that there is no name associated with it on my birth certificate or any other legal documents. He thought that was the weirdest thing. I told him "it does stand for something, but the real name is just that middle initial. Do you want me to put that name on the application?" He said, "Are you asking me if I want you to lie on the application???"

I couldn't believe we were having this conversation. In short, he asked me to send him a letter and some proof of the fact that I don't have a middle name, but just a middle initial. I sent out that documentation last week.

Other than that, in my mind I am scrambling before the exam taking in every bit of time that I can to study. I must pass this exam so that I can get a job in a patent law firm.