Anyone have experience with being Patent Attorney (Law Clerk) at the USPTO?
I’m a registered patent attorney but am currently doing general lit/transaction work currently. I had done US IP counseling work in a foreign government agency before to my current job, and currently only doing some TM prosecution for the firm’s clients. I want to see if working at USPTO would enable me to get into Patent/IP practice. TIA!

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Thanks—if you don’t mind, could you share your experience?

What is your background? Did you clerk straight from law school? How was your experience? Etc

Thank you for your input.

You mention that you were working for a foreign government. I bring it up only because the USPTO only hires American citizens.

I’m a former patent examiner, former patent agent and associate in two big law firms. It’s going to be tough to break into patent prosecution, and clerking at the USPTO isn’t going to open doors for prosecution. However, it can open doors for patent litigation - there is a fantastic PTAB clerk program.

If you really want to get into patent prosecution, apply to be a patent examiner and bounce after a year or two to a firm.

If you’re interested in becoming a USPTO trademark examiner, you likely already have the experience needed.

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Doing the PTAB Judicial Law Clerk program at USPTO is the best thing you can do outside of Federal Circuit or District Court to pad your resume, very competitive

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