I am going to finish my Ph.D. degree. My thesis is related drug carrier systems, pharmaceutical and biotechnological applications. In which I gain my knowledge in chem eng. as well as pharmaceutical perspective.
I really keen to join IP Law firm. However, all the local IP company is listing Trainee position either Electrical Engineering or Mining, not much related to pharmaceutical.
Then maybe you need to move. There are a lot of firms that represent biotech and pharma companies out there, and they really prefer to hire PhD's over lower-degreed folks if they can. May I ask where in the country you are living/looking?
Have you taken the Patent Agent's exam yet?
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/oed/examregist.htm
I want to know if it is very hard for myself in doing IP trainee in EE or mining. It is because all my knowledge is within pharmaceutical and chem eng. Is it like totally changing my field of knowledge?
It's probably unlikely that you would be hired to do EE or mechanical prosecution with a pharma PhD. EE work usually only goes to people with EE, CS or physics degrees. Besides, you have a PhD, why not use it? There are a TON of law firms doing pharma-related patent work -- you need to find one and use your degree and experience where it will help you, not hold you back.
This stuff is all driven by the clients, not the law firms. A bunch of EE's who come up with an electrical invention are going to want to work with a patent agent or patent attorney with an EE background, or at least an in-depth understanding of EE. The clients want their attorney to really understand their technology, and don't want an attrorney or agent who doesn't undersrtand the fundamentals.
The same is true, maybe even more so, for biotech and pharma clients. At least most of the EE clients are willing to work with an attorney or agent with a BS degree. Most of the biotech and pharama clients
demand that their attorney's and agent's have a PhD.
Since you have a PhD, might as well make it work for you.
I notice that all the IP law firms are working in groups of specialties. If I chose EE to start of my IP training, am I not going back to IP of pharmaceutical.
That's true, but again, this is more based on the client's needs and wants that the law firm's. It's easier to get a big EE client if you have a roster of EE attorneys or agents who are able to handle the work -- most larger companies don't want to hire a firm with only one or two people who can handle their work. What happens if one of those peope is sick, or on vacation, or quits, or is just overloaded? Clients want depth.
If you did manage to get into an EE or mechanical group, you would learn skills that would help you later if you decide to move to a firm handling biotech or pharma work. You won't really be locked in. That said, it will probably be tough to break into an EE or mechanical group given your background (or maybe not, if there is demand in your area and few people to meet that demand), and you would be better off joining a biotech or pharma group to begin with, if possible.
Based on your post (EE and mining), it sounds like you are either in Colorado or thereabouts, or maybe in the rural East. If you have the ability to relocate, well, you probably already know where the big biotech and pharma hubs are (Boston, SF Bay Area, San Diego, a bunch of other places). The law firms in these areas will have pharma or biotech groups. Also, if you live (or want to move to) the DC area, you can work for the USPTO directly -- you won't make as much (probably) as workinig for a law firm, but you can gain valuable experience and skills that will make you highly employable if you decide to go into private practice later on.
Are you planning on going to law school?
EDIT: Also, many of the biotech and pharma companies have their own patent agents or attorneys on staff, and sometimes hire people directy into those roles. That's another possibility, but again, requires that you live near a biotech or pharma company that has an in-house patent department.
