Rebecca Frith

Trainee Patent Attorney Engineering

A day in the life

“I enjoyed my three years working as an engineer after university, but decided that a life spent de- bugging capricious hardware in the lab wasn’t for me. Working as a Patent Attorney offers a perfect alternative that caters to my interest in technology while presenting a new challenge in terms of learning the law.”

The job involves a wide variety of different tasks. This keeps the job interesting because each day is different and you really don’t know what might crop up! Below, I’ve tried to give a flavour of some of the types of tasks that may turn up for a Trainee.

9:00am

I start off the day by checking and sending some emails including sending a draft patent application to a client which my principal has already checked and approved. I also make a final check of some past paper exam answers that I prepared earlier this week in preparation for a tutorial I’m attending next week in the Bristol office. Once checked, I send them to the qualified Attorney in the firm who is giving the tutorial.

9:30am

Next, I finish preparing a response to the European Patent Office for a large multinational client which I started yesterday. In the response, we have to reply to a number of objections against our patent application and convince the examiner that the invention is both new and not obvious. Responding to an examiner can often feel like participating in a very considered and extremely polite debate. Having always enjoyed a good argument, I often find this to be a very satisfying part of the day.

11:30am

My principal and I have a video call scheduled with a new client who would like to apply for a patent to protect a new product they are developing. In the call the client explains to us how their new product works, and my principal and I ask lots of questions to really get to grips with what the invention is and how best to protect it. Afterwards my principal and I discuss the call and begin to draft some claims. This can be a lengthy process with lots of discussion to try and accurately define the client’s invention and the potential scope of protection which would be afforded by the patent if it grants.

1:30pm

My principal has forwarded me an email from a client containing questions about the law relating to licensing and the rights of exclusive licensees. I learned about this on my PG Cert IP course, but need to refresh my memory a little before replying to the client so I spend a bit of time looking at various online legal resources before putting together my reply.

2:30pm

I spend some time with my principal going over the response which I was working on this morning. There are a couple of places where my principal disagrees with my approach and they suggest a few changes to make before we send a draft of the response to the client. As I have progressed, the amount of time spent going over pieces of work, and the amounts of changes which are made by my principal has gone down, but there is still some way to go (and a few exams to pass) before my work will go out unchecked by someone more experienced.

5:00pm

I spent the last hour beginning to draft a patent application based on the earlier call with the client and the claims that my principal and I drafted. I then finish for the day.

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