From the inbox, a good question and observation. First, what is the long-term outlook for intellectual property law for chemists (in terms of patent agent positions and IP lawyers?)
On that note, it appears that there isn't much data. You will be amused to know that the Bureau of Labor Statistics sees lawyers growing at 8% for 2016-2026. (Chemists, readers of this blog will know, are expected to grow at a rate of 6% for the same time period.) Here's a BLS paper that doesn't really have much data about the field, but might be worth a perusal anyway.
Here's our anonymous writer's observation: Check out the number of people who have been taking the patent agent exam:
2017: 2346
2016: 2424
2015: 2495
2014: 2799
2013: 2766
2012: 3365
2011: 2716
2010: 3120
2009: 3357
2008: 3634
2007: 3192
2006: 2923
2005: 2673
Looks like we are in a local minima? (Sure can see a lot of activity during the Great Recession!) Hard to know what this means 10 years from now.
As someone who made the switch from the lab to a law firm a few years back, I can definitively say that the outlook is significantly better in the legal sector. Patent agents/attorneys with chemistry backgrounds tend to have even more job security than agents/attorneys with other technical disciplines (in my experience at least). Patent law is pretty insulated from the rest of the employment woes of the legal sector. The pay is nice too.
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