Hjort wrote:
Do you want an MBA so can have a better knoweldge base for filing business process patents? Are you seeking an MBA to help gain access to inhouse positions?
To some degree it's both. Oversimplified, the idea is to open as many doors as possible.
Between the two, gaining access to inhouse positions is the higher priority. As I understand it, however, the MBA credential does not add much to that effort... the usual track is: large firm for a few years -> do good work -> develop a good relationship w/ client -> get invited inside -> work your way up to GC. It's all about connections and being a good lawyer.
Likewise, I'm sure you can adequately prosecute & litigate business method patents without an MBA. But I'm curious what the MBA might add... advanced understanding and insight into clients' IP portfolios? Conversant business vocabulary? Increased appeal to financial institution clients? Would it really distinguish me, in any way, from a non-MBA patent practitioner who learned on the job?
Furthermore, all the prior research I've done suggests that JD/MBAs tend to go into business rather than practice law - for various good reasons. But do those same reasons hold true for a patent attorney?
I enjoy the law. I'd rather stay a lawyer. But I
might have an opportunity to attend a premiere educational institution, to meet incredibly dynamic and intelligent people, and to learn at the highest level... assuming a few more puzzle pieces fall into place (1 more semester to go!). Definitely a romantic prospect. The question is... what would be the benefit? To walk away cosmically wiser is fine and noble... but, at the end of the day, I need to pay the bills. For me, the opportunity cost of business school pushes $400,000.
(I appreciate your help and advice, and I appreciate the LLM suggestion. We're both on the same page... I've been weighing LLM prospects, too.)