Guide to Graduates Seeking a Career as an IP Professional

If you have settled on a career within IP what should you do to ensure your smooth transfer from Scientist / Engineer / Legal Graduate to Patent / Trade Mark Attorney?

Identify your niche as soon as possible

So…Patents or Trade Marks? Generally, Patent Attorneys will have a technical, scientific background whereas Trade Mark Attorneys tend to have a broader variety of backgrounds, commonly amongst the Arts, Humanities, Business and / or Law.

Gain as much experience as soon as possible

Make direct applications for vacation placements, work experience and professional shadowing. These are usually easier to achieve in a private practice rather than in industry, although both are possible. This should not only confirm your enthusiasm for the profession but will show future employers a commitment to the IP industry and to gaining experience at the earliest opportunity.

Register and get to know our consultants - but with the future in mind.

Sacco Mann is well placed to help candidates who are Part-Qualified, i.e. have passed a couple of foundation papers or passed the Queen Mary IP certificate (See separate 'Route to Qualification' article). However, most private practices tend to recruit graduates with no IP experience directly. We can register your details with us in any event as clients do sometimes instruct us on trainee vacancies as and when they are struggling to recruit directly. It also helps both us and you if we can get to know you at the earliest opportunity so that in the future, once you have passed some of the exams, we are best placed to advise you as comprehensively and efficiently as possible.

Apply to firms directly

Many of our clients advertise directly on www.insidecareers.co.uk which is a very informative website that will give you details on different firms and how to apply to them. Although it predominantly focuses on Patent Attorneys, many of the firms featured there have Trade Marks departments which will recruit at trainee level. This is a good starting point in terms of getting to know the profession. For rankings of firms etc, please also consider www.legal500.com and view the relevant section within the 'TMT' section.

See our separate article on 'Route to Qualification' at the top of this page for advice on how and where to get the formal qualifications for both Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys.