Vacancies

Graduate Position - Trainee Patent Attorney

We are looking to appoint a Trainee Patent Attorney in our Bath office to help us with our work in the mechanical/electrical sectors.

This is an opportunity to join a small yet dynamic firm which can offer a good work-life balance as well as great salary and career progression.

The successful candidate will have a recently obtained degree in mechanical/civil/electrical engineering or similar, or maths/physics (and related subjects) with a solid understanding of the laws of physics and basic engineering concepts. The individual should be practical, precise and sociable.

Client satisfaction is at the forefront of our firm's ethos, as is the provision of an open and supportive working environment. We offer our attorneys a great deal of room for professional development and the opportunity to attend a number of CPD and networking events.

Full training will be offered to reach Chartered Patent Attorney and European Patent Attorney status.

The work will involve all forms of intellectual property (IP) including patents, trademarks and designs. The successful candidate will be exposed to a broad spectrum of stimulating technical subject matter and a varied workload including drafting patent specifications, filing, examination, infringement analysis, cease and desist actions, licensing, providing general IP advice to SMEs, searching, and dealing with new enquiries to name but a few.

The following benefits are typically available: Maternity/paternity leave; 25 days holiday per year, plus usual public holidays; Private medical health care; Work related bonus; Dress-down Friday; Additional loyalty holidays; working at home some days of the week; CIPA fees.

About us

We are a small firm of patent and trademark attorneys. All attorneys have engineering or science degrees. Patent attorneys do not have to be, and are mostly not, solicitors. We specialise in Intellectual Property (IP) law. We have to know a little basic English law but mostly, on a day-to-day basis we deal only with IP law. We advise clients on IP strategy, protection and enforcement. We prepare and handle formal applications to register IP rights in the UK and Europe. We deal with attorneys in other countries to handle our clients' overseas IP rights. Overseas attorneys send us work to handle for their clients in the UK and Europe.

To be a successful patent attorney one must have a solid understanding of basic mathematics, physics and chemistry. Patent attorneys need to be good with grammar, spelling and have a large vocabulary. Practical mechanical skills are also very useful as one can then more readily understand a new product.

There are many exams to take and typically it takes 4 to 6 years to fully qualify. Studying, in addition to day-to-day work, can be demanding, but is rewarding. We typically learn on the job although there are some external courses one can attend. The firm has other trainees at different levels.

Application procedures

Part-Qualified or Fully Qualified Patent Attorney

We are looking to appoint a part-qualified or fully qualified patent attorney in our Bath office to help us with our work in the mechanical/electrical sectors. By "part-qualified" we mean that the candidate has passed some of the professional examinations (PEB, QMUL, etc.)

This is an opportunity to join a small yet dynamic firm which can offer a good work-life balance as well as great salary and career progression.

The successful candidate will have a degree in mechanical/civil/electrical engineering or similar, or maths/physics (and related subjects) with a solid understanding of the laws of physics and basic engineering concepts. The individual should be practical, precise and sociable.

Client satisfaction is at the forefront of our firm's ethos, as is the provision of an open and supportive working environment. We offer our attorneys a great deal of room for professional development and the opportunity to attend a number of CPD and networking events.

Full training will be offered to reach Chartered Patent Attorney and European Patent Attorney status, if required.

The work will involve all forms of intellectual property (IP) including patents, trademarks and designs. The successful candidate will be exposed to a broad spectrum of stimulating technical subject matter and a varied workload including drafting patent specifications, filing, examination, infringement analysis, cease and desist actions, licensing, providing general IP advice to SMEs, searching, and dealing with new enquiries, to name but a few.

The following benefits are typically available: Maternity/paternity leave; 25 days holiday per year, plus usual public holidays; Private medical health care; Work related bonus; Dress-down Friday; Additional loyalty holidays; working at home some days of the week; CIPA fees.

Partnership is a distinct possibility once UK qualified.