Current Employer:
US Patent and Trademark Office
Job Title:
Patent Examiner
Home Town:
Midwest
Current Location:
Annapolis, Maryland
Short Description of your Graduate School Research:
Characterization of protein and membrane trafficking pathways in plant cells using live cell imaging
Faculty Advisor:
Sebastian Bednarek
CMB Degree Received in:
2007
What and where is your current position?
Patent Examiner – I analyze patent applications in the fields of gene therapy, antisense therapy, and gene editing for therapeutic purposes to determine if a patent should be issued. I work remotely. USPTO home office is in Alexandria, VA
Describe your career path from graduate school to your current position.
Ph.D at Univ of Wisconsin — Post Doctoral research at Univ of Washington — part time then full time teaching at community colleges, PUIs, and Univ of Akron (adjunct and visiting professors) — Patent Examiner
How did your experience with CMB shape your career?
I was exposed to a lot of different fields as part of the CMB, which gave me the foundation to teach several different types of classes (intro bio, genetics, microbiology, etc). Initially I was planning to be a professor at a primarily undergraduate institution (PUI) and the research aspect of CMB helped. Life didn’t go as planned. But the breadth of topics in CMB and the focus on research helped give me the scientific basis I needed to read primary literature, which is fundamental in my current position.
What made you decide to pursue a PhD with CMB at UW-Madison?
Location and lots of options for research to choose from.
Describe a “day in the life” of your current job.
Read primary and patent literature. Searching for what’s been done previously to determine if an inventor’s or researcher’s work is patentable. Write reports based on my analysis. Work with Attorneys that represent the Inventor to find something patentable in their work.
What is your best piece of advice for current graduate students preparing for their careers?
Be flexible. Learn to do as many things as you can so that you can stay flexible. The technology you are using today will be outdated in 5-10 years so keep an eye out for emerging technologies.
What advice would you give to current students who are specifically interested in a career path similar to yours?
Patent Examining is very niche and there is only one employer (federal government). But you can also see the “other side” of the coin at WARF. See what patent agents do at WARF. They can also try to take a class at the law school in introduction to IP or Patent law.