2 Comments

1. 1. Know what I do. If I primarily do patent prosecution, don’t tell me you dream of being a litigator, and vice versa.

   2. Know my firm’s client base, and preferably mine too.

   3. Have an answer to “why my firm?” when I ask why you’re interviewing here. “This is the only place that called me,” is not a good answer.

   4. Please, please don’t wear too much perfume or after shave. The windows don’t open, and it’ll take me days to get rid of the stink.

   5. Have a copy of your resume handy, especially if you’ve updated it since you sent out the version I have on my desk.

   6. If there is anything negative on your resume (long job gap, lots of job hopping, bad grades, no offer from prior employer) be proactive in addressing it.

   Comment by judith — March 14, 2007 #

2. I’ll answer from the patent prosecution point of view, since that’s primarily what we do.

   1. Emphasize your practical technical background - I’m much more impressed if you are a ham operator, worked as an engineer or rebuilt a ‘26 Ford than if you made Law Review.

   2. After practical experience, we’d favor broad technical education. If you work here, you’re going to work on patents from meatball cookers and methods of semiconductor fabrication through variable cam timing and window frames. You need to be able to pick up and understand an invention in a field you never previously thought of without undue difficulty.

   3. I’ve found that intellectual curiosity, in the broad sense, is a prerequisite to a good patent practitioner. I’ve never met a patent agent or attorney whom I respected who wasn’t a reader. Doesn’t matter a lot what you read (although Science Fiction and History seem to be consistent themes), but if you don’t read, chances are you won’t work out.

   4. Bring something you wrote - preferably something technical. Patent applications aren’t legal briefs, they’re more closely related to term papers in engineering or science. I’d be a lot more likely to hire someone who wrote a clear article explaining how to install a car stereo than someone who wrote an abstract brief on the niceties of Choice of Law in Admiralty.

   5. Finally, I second the advice about local connections - we haven’t found people who have spent their entire lives in cities in south Florida to be a good fit for our firm in a small community in snowy central New York. No matter how good an attorney you are, chances are you’re going to be miserable from October through May. If you already appreciate slush, you’re halfway home.

   And, by the way, we are looking for a patent attorney for our Rochester Office - anybody like Lake Effect Snow out there?

   Comment by Mike Brown — March 16, 2007 #

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