Trainee British / European patent attorneys - Germany

A number of us are attempting to form a so-called "Munich Informals" group i.e. for Munich-based Brits training to be British/European Patent Attorneys.

The idea is to get together once in a while for a casual drink, meal, boogie etc. etc.

Please do post here and drop me an email if you are interested as we would love to hear from you.

Doing the EQE in March?

I'm a US Attorney at Law / Patent Attorney working at a German and European patent firm.

If anybody has any questions or is looking for job opportunities, feel free to PM me.

I'm planning to sit for the EQE in about 2 years too.

You guys still about? I will be moving to Munich soon.

I am still about and have some contact to non-TT TAs, am not entirely sure as to how long Anwalt is around for...

Just drop me a line once you get here and we could take it from there!

I'll be around until at least the end of May.

Heinrich: is there another get together planned for the first Thursday of March?

I have a B.S. Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Texas, have been working in Germany now for 8 years as an engineer (although mostly in software), and am interested in the EQE exam to become a European Patent Attorney. (i.e. I want to apply with a patent law firm and would like to be able to convince them of my viability as a candidate for the EQE)

Does anyone know if my American university B.S. degree will be accepted by the EPO?

In the description it states something like "technical degree from an official university" which to me definitely seems like a match.
But with the German higher education system converting from the Diplom to the Bachelor/Master system in 2010, I am worried that it might not be considered sufficient as the Germans consider their new Bachelor as only a half-degree... but then again the EPO is European so Germany is not the sole determinant...

I have contacted the German Patent Office and am going to see if they will accept my degree (if so I think I will have no problem as I will probably receive some written confirmation), but I have not yet gone about checking specifically for the European exam.

here's the text from the EPO website:

and here's the referenced Article 11(1)(a):

In the case that my degree is not accepted straightaway, the language seems to allow for some wiggle room: "or are able to satisfy the Secretariat that they possess an equivalent level of scientific or technical knowledge". Anyone have any idea what would be involved and a guess what the chances are like?

Assuming that I am able to so this, I would of course be very interested in the original thread post about meeting up regarding preparation for the exam (but most of the original posters are probably well ahead or already finished).

any help would be greatly appreciated! (oh, I'm also fluent in German if that in any way makes a difference)

MUC-Amerikaner,

I've looked into this question, too (I'm a US patent attorney with a BSEE), and I think that you're best off just trying to get an answer straight from the EPO. Like you mentioned, the regulations aren't clear on this. I think they look more favorably if you graduated with "honors," too. I know at least one American who is a licensed European Patent Attorney, and he has a BSEE with honors from an American university.

If you aren't a citizen of a Contracting State to the European Patent Convention, you will need to get an exception from the EPO to become a licensed EPA. In that case, this discussion may be of interest.

Also, if you are a native English speaker, that will make you more attractive to law firms, since they handle a lot of English-language work (though your German skills will be valuable, too).