Interestingly, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which requires a technical/science background for admission to the Patent Bar, explicitly excludes mathematics degrees or courses from the acceptable qualifying backgrounds. The theory seems to be that mathematical analysis is based upon mere “laws of nature” and not on applied technology. Given that Newton invented the calculus to solve physical problems, and that the behavior of physical systems is likewise governed and described by “laws of nature,” the validity of this distinction is not entirely evident to me.
The Patent Office used to have a similar exclusion of computer science degrees but has relaxed it so that certain sufficiently “technological” computer coursework (as opposed to, say, taking an Excel class) can qualify.