How To Become A Patent Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is a patent analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

It may not be obvious, but inventors need to obtain patents. This helps them prevent their products, designs, or processes from being stolen. As a patent analyst, you can play an important role in ensuring an inventor's creation won't get stolen.

A patent analyst investigates the content of a patent by analyzing every minute detail, including each diagram, bolt, piece of fabric, and movable part. The analyst then categorizes, codes, and indexes the invention according to the subject area and enters it into a searchable database. This enables customers to find patents of interest quickly.

Many times, they will specialize in working with a specific category of patents, such as computer science or biomedical engineering. Patent analysts can work for law firms or large companies, investigating new technologies and products.

If you become a patent analyst, you may get a chance to work on various patients from all over the world. If you would like to become a patent analyst, you'll need technical expertise and advanced education. Some patent analysts have a law degree in addition to an advanced degree in a technical subject. This allows them to understand the details of patent applications and the technical documentation included with them.

ScorePatent AnalystUS Average

Salary

6.1

Avg. Salary $77,926

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 6.31%

Black or African American 5.48%

Hispanic or Latino 7.70%

Unknown 4.37%

White 75.83%

Gender

female 28.35%

male 71.65%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a patent analyst

Explore patent analyst education requirements

Most common patent analyst degrees

Bachelor's

64.9 %

Master's

18.6 %

Doctorate

14.4 %

Start to develop specific patent analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
Search Reports	19.20%
Technical Aspects	11.18%
Medical Devices	6.69%
USPTO	6.68%
Mechanical Engineering	5.74%

Complete relevant patent analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New patent analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a patent analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real patent analyst resumes.

Research patent analyst duties and responsibilities

Manage and provide responses to incoming subpoenas and discovery requests relating to underwriting files and policy and accounting information.
Conduct invalidation search, freedom-to-operate search and landscape studies in USPTO, EPO, WIPO and Chinese patent database SIPO
Perform patentability, invalidity, freedom to operate (FTO), and evidence of use searches.
Evaluate complex patent portfolios for licensing value and litigation suitability.

Prepare your patent analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your patent analyst resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a patent analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable patent analyst resume templates

Build a professional patent analyst resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your patent analyst resume.