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Patent examiner vs reviewer

The differences between patent examiners and reviewers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a patent examiner, becoming a reviewer takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a patent examiner has an average salary of $64,891, which is higher than the $48,691 average annual salary of a reviewer.

The top three skills for a patent examiner include patent applications, mechanical engineering and intellectual property. The most important skills for a reviewer are patients, healthcare, and home health.

Patent examiner vs reviewer overview

Patent ExaminerReviewer
Yearly salary$64,891$48,691
Hourly rate$31.20$23.41
Growth rate10%-
Number of jobs2,3632,286
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Average age4642
Years of experience42

Patent examiner vs reviewer salary

Patent examiners and reviewers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Patent ExaminerReviewer
Average salary$64,891$48,691
Salary rangeBetween $35,000 And $119,000Between $33,000 And $71,000
Highest paying City-Washington, DC
Highest paying state-Oregon
Best paying company-Apple
Best paying industry--

Differences between patent examiner and reviewer education

There are a few differences between a patent examiner and a reviewer in terms of educational background:

Patent ExaminerReviewer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringBusiness
Most common collegeCornell UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Patent examiner vs reviewer demographics

Here are the differences between patent examiners' and reviewers' demographics:

Patent ExaminerReviewer
Average age4642
Gender ratioMale, 80.6% Female, 19.4%Male, 36.6% Female, 63.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.6% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 6.4% White, 75.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 13.4% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.3% Asian, 5.2% White, 55.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage10%9%

Differences between patent examiner and reviewer duties and responsibilities

Patent examiner example responsibilities.

  • Leverage USPTO proprietary information and technical research to evaluate claim inventions.
  • Learned and implement use of new software tools and applications at the USPTO on a regular basis.
  • Provide management assistance to veterans in financial matters and solving issues.
  • Analyze final determination of the competency of veterans and other VA beneficiaries and provide notification of the determination.
  • Review and execute infringement and invalidity analyses for patents relating to telecommunications and call routing in support of major infringement litigation.
  • Draft several patent applications relating to DNA diagnostic technologies.

Reviewer example responsibilities.

  • Manage afive person team responsible for covering scope, assigning, analysis and then final review ofInvestigation ROI.
  • Review HUD-1, GFE, TIL and disclosures with the requirements of RESPA and TILA.
  • Work as a team member, reviewing and compiling GC and HPLC data.
  • Confirm federal, VA and state compliances, also maintain CRA, HMDA and RESPA compliance records.
  • Review documents to evaluate and assign dollar values to claims resulting from the 2010 BP oil spill.
  • Review contemporary fiction and non-fiction base on story, pace, characters, ending, and layout.
  • Show more

Patent examiner vs reviewer skills

Common patent examiner skills
  • Patent Applications, 19%
  • Mechanical Engineering, 16%
  • Intellectual Property, 15%
  • USPTO, 15%
  • Interference, 12%
  • Patent Law, 4%
Common reviewer skills
  • Patients, 13%
  • Healthcare, 10%
  • Home Health, 8%
  • Customer Service, 7%
  • Excellent Time Management, 7%
  • CMS, 5%