Bhakti’s story
As I’m sure is a familiar feeling to many, I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do after my studies, what I did know is that I didn’t want
to leave science completely. I very much enjoyed my PhD, but as it came to an end, I wasn’t sure that a future in academia was for me. A career as a Patent Attorney seemed like a good fit allowing me to use and build upon my scientific knowledge but with a different focus to academic research.
“I work on multiple cases at any one time and each case is about something different. This is one of the things that makes this job so interesting.”
As a Trainee at Mewburn, I have been involved in case work from the start helping clients during different stages of the patent prosecution process. Often when a client applies for a patent, the patent examiner raises several objections to the patentability of it. Most of my work involves trying to persuade patent examiners that the client’s invention is patentable by preparing arguments to the objections that they have raised. The arguments are based on technical aspects as well as law.
I am supervised by a Partner in the firm. The Partners set you work and give you feedback. At Mewburn, we rotate Partners every six months which allows us to work with different types of clients and learn different ways of working. I’ve found this really useful in developing my problem solving abilities. We now also have the option for virtual rotations mixed in with two physical ones, which means you get the best of both worlds.
Good communication is key to many aspects of the job such as writing persuasive arguments, talking to clients to understand their inventions and explaining legal concepts to them in a digestible manner. An analytical and creative mind will also be helpful when responding to objections from examiners and during oral proceedings. As you’ve probably heard, having good attention to detail is also very important.
Applying for roles
Before you apply to a Patent Attorney Trainee role try to get as much information as possible. Try talking to people in the profession and looking online. It’s difficult to know exactly what something is like until you do it, but hopefully this will help you get a better feel for the job.
When applying, ensure you proof-read your CV and cover letter, accuracy is key to the Patent Attorney role. Try to research the firms to which you apply to ensure you’re making informed choices and understand how they train their people. It can be daunting applying for a position as a Trainee Patent Attorney without knowing much about law, but don’t let it put you off. You will learn on the job and hopefully find a firm like Mewburn Ellis with a strong training programme to help you develop along the way!
