Patent Attorney: Examinations are set by the Patent Examination Board (PEB) and the European Patent Office. In order to register for the UK exams, you will need to have passed the foundation exams which will be taken approximately one year after joining R&G. There are four foundation papers, four UK papers and four European papers to sit. Once fully qualified, you will be required to complete a litigations skills course for which there is an exam at the end.
Trade Mark Attorney: Examinations are set by the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (CITMA). There are two courses involved in the trade mark attorney qualification process. First, there are regular (compulsory) lectures to attend at Queen Mary University at which trainees are taught the legal theory of trade marks, designs and copyright.
At the beginning of that course you will sit a Professional Ethics paper and if you are a non-Law graduate you will sit a Foundations of Law paper (Law graduates are exempt from this paper). At the end of that course, you sit three or four papers dependant on whether you a Law graduate: two trade mark papers and one copyright & design paper and a foundation in law paper (Law graduates are exempt from taking this paper). Following the QM course, you will return to the office for approximately one year where you will implement the theory learnt at QM.
The second course is at Nottingham Trent University. You will stay in Nottingham for a few days each every other month to attend lectures and take part in small seminar and workshop groups. There are four written and assessments throughout the course, including two oral assessments which are spread throughout the course. There are four One of the written papers at the end of the course, including assessments is a specialist Litigation paper. Once passed, you become a fully qualified UK and European Trade Mark Attorney.