While PhD may sound like a qualifying area, I don't think you should necessarily give up. The reason is a PhD in, say, Chemical Engineering, doesn't really hel

While PhD may sound like a qualifying area, I don't think you should necessarily give up. The reason is a PhD in, say, Chemical Engineering, doesn't really help with electronic patents do they? Read up on Groklaw the issues at hand and see if you can mount any interesting arguments / twists. If you have enough knack, then at the very least you'll sound like a qualified candidate. Otherwise, try for a side entry via some kind of pro-bono work for the EFF.