There are three requirements an applicant must establish to be admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the Office):
When someone is admitted, if she is or later becomes an attorney, she is known as a patent attorney. If an individual is not an attorney, he is known as a patent agent.
Good moral character and reputation is established by filling out the application to be admitted to take the exam, and by having your name published after passing the exam so that anyone with a contrary opinion can address the issue with the Office.
The most common way to meet scientific and technical qualifications requirements is having a Bachelor's degree in an approved major (category A, below). If you do not have a degree in one of these majors, you may also qualify under category B or C, below.
If you have a Bachelor's degree in one of the follow subjects from an accredited school (or foreign equivalent), you are qualified to take the patent bar!
* Acceptable Computer Science degrees must be accredited by the Computer Science Accreditation Commission (CSAC) of the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board (CSAB), or by the Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), on or before the date the degree was awarded. Computer science degrees that are accredited may be found here and at http://www.abet.org.
An applicant with a Bachelor's degree in a subject other than one of those listed in Category A must establish he possesses scientific and technical training equivalent to that received at an accredited U.S. college or university for a Bachelor's degree in one of the subjects listed in Category A. To establish equivalence, an applicant can satisfy one of the following four options, or have other training or education as described below.
Under Option 4, up to four semester hours will be accepted for courses in design engineering or drafting. Also, under Option 4, computer science courses that stress theoretical foundations, analysis, and design, and include substantial laboratory work, including software development will be accepted. Such courses include the representation and transformation of information structures, the theoretical models for such representations and transformations, basic coverage of algorithms, data structures, software design with a laboratory, programming languages with a laboratory, and computer organization and architecture. Other acceptable courses in computer science include artificial intelligence and robotics, networking, linear circuits, logic circuits, operating systems, and software methodology and engineering. However, the courses may not be substituted for the eight semester hours of chemistry or physics required under Option 4.
Other factors will also be considered on a case-by-case basis with respect to scientific and technical training. The OED will consider expertise in scientific and technical training which is equivalent to that of a Bachelor's degree in a subject listed in Category A. An applicant without a degree listed in Category A has the burden of establishing possession of sufficient training and expertise in science or engineering to be equivalent to that of a Bachelor's degree in a subject listed in Category A. Objective evidence demonstrating that training is equivalent to training received in courses accepted under Category A may establish such equivalency.
Other education (e.g., foreign education, academic credit for work experience, military education, life experience, etc.) is acceptable to the extent objective evidence demonstrates the education is equivalent to that received at an accredited U. S college or university in one of the subjects listed in Category A. For example, such education may be met by one of the following showings:
An applicant relying on practical engineering or scientific experience or who does not qualify under Category A or B above may establish the required technical training by demonstrating that he or she has taken and passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) test. The FE test is developed and administered by a State Board of Engineering Examiners in each State or comparable jurisdiction. Neither the USPTO nor any other U.S. Government agency administers the test. Applicants desiring to take the FE test should direct inquiries to the Secretaries of the appropriate State Boards. Official results of the FE test must be submitted to establish qualification under this category. Applicants attempting to qualify under Category C must submit an official original transcript showing the award of a Bachelors degree.
Adapted from the General Requirements Bulletin for Admission to the Examination for Registration to Practice in Patent Cases Before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, issued January 2008.