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Does anyone know a good place to search for jobs for patent attorneys?

I will be taking the patent bar in May (and hopefully passing it) and I would like to get an early start on my job search. I currently handle litigation work for a boutique maritime firm in lower Manhattan. I have a degree in microbiology and worked for Merck for two years after I graduated from undergrad. I'm looking in the New York area (NYC or Long Island). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Public Comments

1. Who handles Merck applications? I'm an examiner in your general area (mostly A61K by the IPC) and I have to admit I don't see a lot from them. But I'm not in NY or even the USA, so I can't tell you where to look. You are already in the business, you must know some of the other attorneys in NY by now. Why not send a c.v to a few likely places? Best of luck passing, BTW.
2. you could try http://joblinkinfo.com for some listings
3. Have you worked your established connections fully? For example, have you tried reconnecting with your Merck coworkers, regardless whether they are in the legal department? How about your schoolmates or professors who may be inventors? If nothing else, these acquaintances should be aware of any patent openings and/or resources at their own workplace. After checking through the obvious resources such as hotjobs.com, monster.com, craigslist.org , it probably makes sense to target law firms over in-house positions. Since most in-house positions tend to be prosecution-focused and require a high degree of self-sufficiency, the odds of getting an in-house position are probably unfavorable for novice litigators. In addition, since law firms tend to work you harder, you tend to get efficient faster. This in turn will make you more marketable in the future. In particular, you might want to focus your search on those partners whose practice may be in need of persons with your skills, regardless of the size of the firm for which the partners work. "Cold call" mailings sometimes generate additional leads. From your experience at Merck, my guess is that you may want to target partners with a book of business in biotech or pharma. On the off-chance that you have done some ITC work in maritime law, play that up with patent litigators. Sending unsolicited resumes to HR departments is typically useless. Good luck with your search. Job searches get easier after the first job,
4. I interview people about how they've landed their latest jobs, and some form of networking is the answer 90% of the time. Who's in your network? * Colleagues and former colleagues * Former bosses * Family * Friends * Former classmates (high school, college, and law school) Contact them, and let them know that you are looking for a job as a patent attorney in NYC/LI area. Ask if they know anyone or any company hiring patent attorneys. For additional support, contact your schools' career centers (college and law school) to see what kind of support they offer alumni/ae. Often, they'll have lists of older alumni who have agreed to help other alums learn about an industry, profession, or company. Many also have job postings and/or employer directories. Check those out. Make a list of probable employers in the NYC/LI area. You can probably do a search through the PTO to see what companies and law firms in NYC/LI have relatively recent patents, so, hopefully, an active R & D organization or a steady stream of clients who need patents registered. Look for associations related to microbiology (seems logical, given your background). I just did a quick Google search on "NYC microbiologist association" (without the quotes) and found the New York Biotechnology Association which has both job postings AND a directory of members (companies!!). That directory is a shopping list for you! See it at - http://www.nyba.org/cgi-bin/member_directory.cgi And, of course, there is always the NY State Bar Association/ Intellectual Property Law section - http://www.nysba.org/MSTemplate.cfm?MicrositeID=61 It has meetings, a directory of members to check other (for NYSBA members, probably like your current employer), committees, and tons of information. Go to these meetings, join committees, be active throughout your whole career! Other resources: * Indeed.com - http://www.indeed.com Indeed is a job aggregator, collecting jobs off the big job sites (Monster, CareerBuilder, HotJobs, etc.). I did a quick search on Indeed on "patent attorney" (with the quotes!) and nyc, and Indeed found 85 jobs. That should be a good start. * Intellectual Property Law Server - http://www.intelproplaw.com/JobsAvailable/ Intelproplaw has jobs posted including some patent attorney jobs. Even if you don't connect with the perfect job for you, this will probably show you some employers you hadn't considered. * The Vault Legal Industry Job Board - http://www.vault.com/jobs/jobboard/lawsearchform.jsp This site has great information about different employers, professions, and industries. It also has a good job board with a bunch of IP/Patent attorney jobs posted. Good luck with your search!