Is an aviation or aeronautical science degree Category A?

No. Those titles are not on the Category A list. You would apply under Category B by showing qualifying science and engineering coursework, or under Category C by passing the FE exam.

Which USPTO Technology Center examines aircraft patents?

Technology Center 3600, whose Group 3640 covers aeronautics. Engines and other mechanical subject matter are examined in Technology Center 3700.

Patent bar eligibility by degree

Aerospace Engineering and the Patent Bar

Aeronautical Engineering has long been a Category A subject, and Aerospace Engineering was added by name in 2021. Either degree, at bachelor's, master's or Ph.D. level, qualifies you to apply for the patent bar.

Check your eligibility Full eligibility guide

At a glance

USPTO category: Category A
Listed subjects: Aerospace Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering
Degree levels: Bachelor's, master's or Ph.D.
Main Technology Centers: TC 3600, TC 3700

Checked against the August 2026 bulletin

Eligibility

Does an Aerospace Engineering degree qualify?

Yes. The USPTO General Requirements Bulletin (August 2026 edition) lists Aerospace Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering in Category A, the degree-based route to the registration exam. An applicant with a bachelor's, master's or Doctor of Philosophy degree in a listed subject from an accredited U.S. college or university, or the foreign equivalent, meets the scientific and technical requirement without a course-by-course review.

Both titles appear in the August 2026 General Requirements Bulletin, so it does not matter which one your university uses.

Your OED application

Exactly what to submit

An official transcript from the college or university that shows the degree was awarded. A transcript issued to you is accepted if it carries the school's stamp or seal.
Not a diploma or a letter. A diploma, a copy of a transcript or a registrar's letter naming your degree does not meet the requirement.
Course descriptions if the title isn't an exact match. If your degree title differs from the listed subject, OED checks equivalence; the OED FAQ suggests sending course descriptions with the first application to avoid delay.
Foreign degrees: objective evidence of U.S. equivalence, such as an evaluation from a foreign-credential evaluation service, alongside the transcript.

The rest of the application (forms, fees and the moral-character questions) is covered step by step in the OED application guide.

Practice

Patent work for aerospace engineering graduates

Registered practitioners usually draft and prosecute applications in the technology they trained in. In this field that means work such as:

Technology area	Example inventions
Airframes and structures	Composite wing panels, fuselage joints, morphing control surfaces.
Propulsion	Turbine blade cooling, combustor design, electric propulsion.
Flight control and avionics	Fly-by-wire control laws, sensor fusion for navigation.
Spacecraft and launch systems	Deployable structures, satellite attitude control, reusable-stage recovery.
Unmanned aircraft	Drone airframes, autonomous landing, payload release mechanisms.

USPTO

Which Technology Centers examine this work

The USPTO routes each application to one of its Technology Centers by its classification. For aerospace engineering subject matter, these are the ones you will deal with most:

Technology Center	Why it applies
TC 3600 Transportation, Construction, Electronic Commerce, Agriculture, National Security and License and Review	Its Group 3640 covers aeronautics; transportation is also in scope.
TC 3700 Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing and Products	Engines, turbines and other mechanical engineering.

Routing follows each application's classification, so a single application can land outside these centers.

Patent law

Secrecy orders and foreign filing licenses

Aerospace inventions are more likely than most to be reviewed for national security. The rules on secrecy orders (35 U.S.C. 181; MPEP 120) and on foreign filing licenses before filing abroad (35 U.S.C. 184; MPEP 140) are tested, and in this field they are part of daily practice.

The registration exam itself tests patent law and USPTO procedure from the MPEP, not your technical field. See the patent bar exam overview for format and scoring.

Pay data

What the occupation pays

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $134,960 for aerospace engineers as of May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook).

That figure is for the engineering or science occupation itself, not for patent agents or attorneys.

Other routes

If your degree title differs

Category A is matched on the subject your transcript names. Titles close to aerospace engineering are handled like this:

Aeronautical Science, Aviation or Professional Pilot: Not on the Category A list. Category B review of your science coursework would apply.
Astronautical or Space Engineering: Not printed in the bulletin. OED decides equivalence to Aerospace Engineering; include course descriptions.
Aerospace Engineering Technology: Not listed. Category B or Category C (the FE exam) would apply.

If you don't qualify under Category A, Category B counts science and engineering coursework (courses for science or engineering majors, grade C- or better):

Option 1: 24 semester hours in physics (physics courses for physics majors).
Option 2: 32 semester hours: 8 in chemistry or physics plus 24 in biology, botany, microbiology or molecular biology.
Option 3: 30 semester hours in chemistry (chemistry courses for chemistry majors).
Option 4: 40 semester hours: 8 in chemistry or physics plus 32 in other listed science and engineering subjects.

Category C is for applicants with a bachelor's degree who pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam. Run your transcript through Do I Qualify? for a quick check, then read the full eligibility guide.

FAQ