Moving a Patent Law Practice from New England to Austin (attorney, trademark)

[blakesq]

HI All,

My wife and I are thinking of moving from New England to Austin. I am a patent and trademark attorney with my own practice. I notice, that according to the patent office, that there are over 400 patent attorneys in Austin, as opposed to about 23 patent attorneys in Jacksonville, FL (another place we considered moving).

Anyhow, my question is, do you all think its a good idea for us to move to Austin, based on what I do for a living? Would there be too much competition? Is there a need for a solo patent/trademark attorney? Some more info is that my wife is origionally from New England, I am originally from Texas, but ended up in New England about 6 years ago. My wife currently works for a local university as a community outreach coordinator. Thanks.

[chet everett]

Austin is the capital of Texas and home to a major University as well as numerous high tech firms. IP law ought to be both over-represented as a specialty and in higher than average demand.

Although I know a few Chicago area IP attorneys (some that even specialize in the works of University commercialization offices) and have heard them have business dealing in TX, I can't say the same for them mentioning trips to FL. Not sure how valuable a data point this is, as perhaps the Chicago-Texas connection is due to local forces (like Motorola...) but it is an honest point.