OMAHA, Neb. (March 31, 2014)—UNeMed intern Jeff Schmidt, recently passed the patent bar exam, clearing a path toward a promising career as a patent attorney.

As an intern at UNeMed, Schmidt helped the licensing team evaluate new inventions, performed patent searches, and researched the patentability of some inventions. That experience played a crucial role in his future plans, including applying to a highly selective internship program with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Va.
Schmidt was accepted into the program and will begin there in June.

“Without UNeMed, I don’t think I would have got that opportunity,” Schmidt said. “They like to see applicants who have patentability research experience, and understand the things that factor into intellectual property in general.”

Schmidt, 28, started working as an intern at UNeMed in May 2013, shortly after completing his doctorate in cancer research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In August he completed his MBA from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Schmidt, from Belle Plaine, Minn., also holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn.

After he completes the two-month program at the USPTO, Schmidt plans to attend law school at Notre Dame when the fall semester begins in August.