>> To be a patent attorney you have to have --
you have to be an engineer or scientist beforehand.
Because in order to explain these concepts to the government, in order to explain them
to a jury or a judge you have to have that technical and scientific training.
So coming out of the College of Engineering I always wrote a lot.
Even in high school I was on the school newspaper.
And while I was at Temple my senior year I took some literature classes.
And some of my professors actually said, hey, you should major in English.
And I said, well, I'm a couple credits away from going out the door.
The best patent attorneys are really people that loved being engineers but also sort
of had this other interest or maybe even talent if you want to call it that of writing.
Because typically engineers don't write very well.
And when I was at temple we sort of emphasized that, well, you really need to focus
on being able to draft a technical report or give a presentation
so that not only can you rise through the engineering ranks, but if you want to choose
to go to the business side you'll still need that technical background.
So you really want to kind of hone those skills, public speaking,
writing because they are important.
But, like I said, the really successful patent attorneys are not people
that are looking to get away from engineering.
They also love that.
But they just want to incorporate a different flavor into what they do on a day-to-day basis.