Patent law

Was looking at alternative career paths with my degree (Biochemistry) and found out about patent agents. There is quite a small number of them in the uk so was wondering if anyone had any info on completion for spaces in companies and such

Reply 1

sogieva

Original post

by sogieva

Competition*

Reply 2

Stiffy Byng

Original post

by sogieva

Competition*

The Patent Agent profession is quite a small profession. I think that the competition for training places may be comparable to competition for training opportunities at commercial law firms and in barristers' chambers. Therefore: very competitive, but not impossible for those with good science degrees.

I have a friend who studied physics and he has a great career as a Patent Agent, doing "Hard IP" work for international tech clients. Hard IP, as you may know, involves patents, trademarks, and industrial design rights. Soft IP involves copyrights, passing-off, and database rights.

You could also look into training to be a solicitor or barrister, and focusing on IP (or other fields, according to what interests you).

Good luck, whatever path you choose.

Reply 3

sogieva

Original post

by Stiffy Byng

The Patent Agent profession is quite a small profession. I think that the competition for training places may be comparable to competition for training opportunities at commercial law firms and in barristers' chambers. Therefore: very competitive, but not impossible for those with good science degrees.
I have a friend who studied physics and he has a great career as a Patent Agent, doing "Hard IP" work for international tech clients. Hard IP, as you may know, involves patents, trademarks, and industrial design rights. Soft IP involves copyrights, passing-off, and database rights.
You could also look into training to be a solicitor or barrister, and focusing on IP (or other fields, according to what interests you).
Good luck, whatever path you choose.

Thanks!

Reply 4

sogieva

Original post

by Stiffy Byng

The Patent Agent profession is quite a small profession. I think that the competition for training places may be comparable to competition for training opportunities at commercial law firms and in barristers' chambers. Therefore: very competitive, but not impossible for those with good science degrees.
I have a friend who studied physics and he has a great career as a Patent Agent, doing "Hard IP" work for international tech clients. Hard IP, as you may know, involves patents, trademarks, and industrial design rights. Soft IP involves copyrights, passing-off, and database rights.
You could also look into training to be a solicitor or barrister, and focusing on IP (or other fields, according to what interests you).
Good luck, whatever path you choose.

Thank youu

Reply 5

Cessle

Original post

by sogieva

My daughter read Biochemistry at university and found her way into the law as a solicitor specialising in IP with a major City firm Along the way she spent some time in the offices of one of the UK's most prominent Patent Attorney firms, Potter Clarkson. Would be worth visiting its website as it will give you an idea of the kind of work they do and an idea of what it takes to qualify. www.potterclarkson.com

Reply 6

Academic007

Isn't patent law just a small subset of IP?

Reply 7

Stiffy Byng

Patent law is a large branch of intellectual property law, with multi national systems for patent recognition and specialist courts. It's economically very significant.

Patent law and copyright are arguably the two branches of IP law with the most economic impact, because of the importance of manufacturing and IT in developed economies.

Reply 8

Ridleyxf

Original post

by Academic007

Isn't patent law just a small subset of IP?

It is a subset, but if you are considering the volume of litigation, and therefore the amount of work an IP practitioner will do, it is by far the biggest part.

Patents protect the most valuable rights and so are the most common subject matter of litigation in the English courts. Then trade marks. The rest (including copyright, design rights, database rights and so on) are rarely litigated as the sums involved are generally such that it is not worth it.

Reply 9

Stiffy Byng

Original post

by Ridleyxf

It is a subset, but if you are considering the volume of litigation, and therefore the amount of work an IP practitioner will do, it is by far the biggest part.
Patents protect the most valuable rights and so are the most common subject matter of litigation in the English courts. Then trade marks. The rest (including copyright, design rights, database rights and so on) are rarely litigated as the sums involved are generally such that it is not worth it.

I mainly agree, subject to the observation that musical copyrights are litigated quite a lot. Ed Sheeran's business model appears to be to sail as close to the IP wind as he can, and many big names have lost or settled plagiarism law suits (Led Zep six times, Madonna twice, and so on).

One of my favourite musical copyright cases involved Louise Redknapp suing Peppa Pig for ripping off Redknapp's song Naked. I assume that Miss Rabbit put Peppa up to the blag.

I also add that database rights are litigated a bit in contractual employment law, because misuse of a database by a departing employee or team of employees who have defected to the competition provides the aggrieved employer with an easy win. No need to prove that information is confidential, just show that it's part of a database, and, boom, injunction.

Back in the good old days of the Anton Piller order, before Universal Thermosensors, I had lots of fun doing copyright enforcement for the rag trade. East end lock-up garages filled with knock off Chanel tat, 6 AM service of the Order, fisticuffs, all that sort of thing. It's not so much fun these days.