[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by LassieLove

For example, Albert Einstein. He was very depressed and considered himself a failure when he worked at a patent agency.

He did not consider himself a failure when he worked at a patent agency. He was not depressed over his job at the patent agency. He was depressed over his inability to resolve the incompatibility of Newtonian mechanics and Maxwell's equations.

By the way, working as a patent clerk (despite the unglamorous word "clerk") is not a job for idiots. Nowadays we call them "patent examiners". An engineering or science degree is the minimum qualification you need, and many patent examiners would have a masters degree in engineering/science. They will also be given legal training.

To give you an example of what a patent examiner does - one day, he may get a patent application for, let's say, a new type of technology, for example, a new type of device that traps solar power, or detects cancer cells. To decide whether the application should be granted, you actually have to understand this new technology - for trapping solar power, or for detecting cancer cells - and decide whether it is so different from existing patented inventions, that it deserves a patent.

Here are some recent patents approved in the US:

Simulation method for efficient characterization of electronic systems under variability effects
United States Patent 8036870

Abstract: A method of determining the behavior of an electronic system comprising electronic components under variability is disclosed. In one aspect, the method comprises for at least one parameter of at least one of the electronic components, showing variability defining a range and a population of possible values within the range, each possible value having a probability of occurrence, thereby defining an input domain. The method further comprises selecting inputs randomly from the input domain, wherein the probability to sample (PTS) is obtained from the probability of occurrence (PTOIR). The method further comprises performing simulation to obtain the performance parameters of the electronic system, thereby defining an output domain sample. The method further comprises aggregating results of the individual computations into the parameter/variability of the electronic system and assigning a frequency of occurrence (FoO) to the resulting sample, the parameter variability and the frequency of occurrence defining the behavior.

Iontophoretic preparation for treatment of breast cancer and/or mastitis
United States Patent 8034824

Abstract:The present invention is to provide means to treat breast cancer and/or mastitis by topically administering a non-steroidal antiinflammatory analgetic agent and/or an anticancer agent and allowing them efficiently to arrive into the mammary gland. The present invention provides an iontophoretic preparation for treating breast cancer and/or mastitis which contains a non-steroidal antiinflammatory analgetic agent and/or an anticancer agent as an active ingredient and has a donor to be applied on a nipple part for topical administration of the active ingredient from the nipple part to the mammary gland by application of electric potential.

Maize variety hybrid 10034320
United States Patent 8035015

Abstract: A novel maize variety designated 10034320 and seed, plants and plant parts thereof, produced by crossing Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. proprietary inbred maize varieties. Methods for producing a maize plant that comprises crossing maize variety 10034320 with another maize plant. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into 10034320 through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. This invention relates to the maize variety 10034320, the seed, the plant produced from the seed, and variants, mutants, and minor modifications of maize variety 10034320. This invention further relates to methods for producing maize varieties derived from maize variety 10034320.

Semiconductor laser driving circuit, and optical disc device and integrated circuit provided with semiconductor laser driving circuit
United States Patent 8036254

Abstract:The output voltage of a cathode drive-type semiconductor laser driving circuit is set to a minimum, power consumption by a driving circuit portion is suppressed, and the heat that is generated by the optical head or the optical disc device is reduced. In addition to a conventional configuration, the semiconductor laser driving circuit of the invention measures the cathode voltage (Vout) of a semiconductor laser (1) and controls the anode voltage (Vld) such that the cathode voltage (Vout) becomes a predetermined level, and by doing so sets the output voltage of the semiconductor laser driving circuit to a predetermined level in order to curtail power consumption by the driving circuit and minimize the rise in temperature of the optical head or the optical disc device.

Being a patent examiner can be a very stimulating & educational environment for a person who is interested in science (as Albert was).