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From: petersja@debussy.cs.colostate.edu (james peterson)
Newsgroups: misc.legal,comp.edu
Subject: CS degrees are not "technical" degrees.....???
Message-ID: <8201@ccncsu.ColoState.EDU>
Date: 27 Jul 90 15:26:21 GMT
Sender: news@ccncsu.ColoState.EDU
Organization: Colorado State Computer Science Department
Lines: 27

I have come across a piece of news which may be of interest to the net.
A former CS student here at Colorado State, now at the University of Denver
School of Law, is preparing to take the exam to become a patent attorney.
Evidently, the US Patent Office will only permit lawyers who have "technical"
degrees to take the exam to become a patent attorney.  Here's the odd
part:  the General Requirements for Admission to the Examination not only
does not have computer science on the list of approved "technical degrees"
but explicitly *excludes* CS as a "technical discipline:" 

	"...only computer science courses which are computer engineering 
	in nature, i.e., courses directed to design and analysis of
	computer circuitry as opposed to mathematics and/or computer 
	software, will be accepted."

I find this to be curious.  Is it not the case that software can be patented?
If software can be patented, why exclude computer scientists from the ranks
of patent attorneys?

Anyone who can shed any light on this issue, or who is as astonished as I am,
is invited to respond by e-mail or follow-up.


--
james lee peterson				petersja@handel.cs.colostate.edu
dept. of computer science                       
colorado state university		"Some ignorance is invincible."
ft. collins, colorado 80523