Rita Patel, ’05
Patent Examiner, U. S. Patent & Trademark Office

When asked about the coolest, the funniest, the craziest inventions ever to cross her desk, Rita Patel ’05 keeps mum, as she must.

But then, she bends.

“The iPhone was exciting,” she offers, and it created quite a buzz around the office—the U. S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Patel works as a patent examiner at USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Va. It’s her job to review patent applications that come in and search databases to see if a patent or similar patent applications exist for a proposed invention. She helps to determine an application’s “patentability.”

Patel and other patent examiners like her are the first line of fire that patent applications must pass in a long process, as it’s very rare that she’ll review an application that will immediately move forward to earn a patent. As a chemical engineering major not far removed from her own Stevens senior project—alternative hydrogen fuel—Patel shares the inventors’ joy of discovery.

“I feel like I have an inside view of the new and fun inventions coming out,” she says during a phone interview from her
office this past July. “To me, it’s a passion as an engineer. It’s kind of like being a kid in a toy store.”

The Arlington, Va., resident joined the USPTO after graduation, but she already had solid experience. For three years, she did intellectual property work as an intern with a Philadelphia law firm. One of the firm’s partners was an engineer and former patent examiner who sparked her interest in the USPTO.

In late October, Patel arrives at work with a huge electronic docket of patent applications awaiting her—about 200 to 300, filed in 2004. She takes calls from inventors, who ask technical questions, something she truly enjoys.

“My heart still lies with the inventors, and I can very much relate to them,” she says.

Patel does much research on the job, writing about one report a day regarding the patentability of an application. Most patent applications aren’t deemed allowable the first time around, and there can be much back and forth between the Patent Office, the inventor and the inventor’s lawyers, she says.

She and other patent examiners undergo a year-long training program. Her diverse Stevens education has been a blessing.
“The broad-based curriculum at Stevens really helped me,” she says. The applications that she handles are chemical engineering-related, though they can call upon her knowledge of electrical, mechanical and other engineering disciplines.

Patel unabashedly admits that she was looking for work that would make her happy. But there’s also the satisfaction that she’s helping her country continue its tradition of innovation.

The many benefits of the job help, too, such as flexible work hours and the ability to work from home. Stevens alumnae of a generation ago would have marveled at what Patel sees as commonplace. Many women in her office— which has a childcare center on site—have children and work flexible hours or from home. Two of her bosses work from home, and the work force is diverse, attracting men and women from all over the country, she says.

“People have lives outside of work,” Patel says.

Her life includes a 61/2-year-old girl whom she’s pledged to protect. Patel volunteers with the Court-Appointed Special Advocates program in Fairfax County, Va., which represents neglected and abused children in the court system.

“My job is to be the eyes and ears of the court,” she says.

Since October 2005, Patel has been involved in this child’s life—visiting her, keeping in touch with her guardian, family members, social worker and attorney. She writes reports for the judge and attends court hearings, made possible by her flexible work schedule. She can spend up to 30 hours each month as an advocate.

Service to others comes naturally. Her mother, Renuka, is a nurse. And her father, Ramesh, and other family members return to their native village in the Indian state of Gujarat to help build roads and water systems. Ramesh Patel has been a civil engineer for the state of New Jersey for 25 years—and always managed to make it home for
dinner and for his daughter’s high school tennis matches.

“You can say that I followed in his footsteps,” Rita says.

When she speaks of her future, Patel imagines law school or striving for the more responsible position of patent agent.

When she’s asked about having a family, the 24-year-old sounds slightly incredulous.

“I know it’s in the background …” she says, cautiously. But it’s a caution that surely comes from being 24, not from what she sees every day—a workplace that welcomes family life.

“I think I will always have a career in intellectual property. It’s a passion of mine,” she says.

“I’m lucky to have found it early in life.”

Courtesy of The Stevens Indicator (Fall 2007)

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