Trade Mark Attorney
What is the work like?
Trade mark attorneys or agents are legal specialists who advise clients about registering and protecting trade marks.
Trade marks can be company or brand names, signatures, logos, or any other unique feature of a product or service. Registered Trade Marks are legally protected from being copied or used in any unauthorised way.
As a trade mark attorney, your work would involve:
- advising clients about choosing and registering trade marks
- carrying out searches to see if a proposed trade mark already exists
- advising on other intellectual property issues like design and copyright
- advising clients how to use and protect trade marks
- registering trade marks on your client's behalf
- dealing with UK and overseas registration authorities
- negotiating in disputes, and taking action if the client's trade mark rights are being broken
- drawing up contracts
- providing back-up to solicitors and barristers if a case comes to court
- handling renewals of existing trade marks, transfer of ownership and licensing.
What qualifications and experience will employers look for?
To become a Trade Mark Attorney, you must pass a series of professional exams and join the Register of Trade Mark Agents.
To be accepted onto the Register of Trade Mark Agents, you will need at least five GCSEs (A-C) and two A levels or equivalent qualifications. You should also find work as a trainee with a suitable employer, because to qualify as a trade mark attorney you must already be working in the profession.
If you do not have the minimum qualifications but you are experienced in relevant legal work, you may still be accepted for the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA) professional foundation exams. Contact ITMA for advice.
You may have an advantage with a law degree, as you may find it easier to find work with a firm of trade mark attorneys, and you will be exempt from some of the first stage of professional training.
What further training and development can I do?
Once you start as a trainee in a firm of trade mark attorneys, you will learn on the job and also study for professional exams from the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA).
To join the Register of Trade Mark Agents, you must pass five Foundation papers and three Advanced papers from ITMA. The Foundation papers cover:
- Trade Mark Law
- Trade Mark Practice
- Basic Overseas Trade Mark Law and Practice
- Designs and Copyright Law
- Basic English Law.
As a student member of ITMA, you can take part in their seminars, two-year law course and revision tutorials.
If you have a law degree you may be exempt from some of the foundation papers. If you hold an LLM degree or Postgraduate Certificate in Intellectual Property Law, you will be exempt from most or all of the foundation exams.
You must also have at least two years’ experience as a practising trade mark agent before you can join the Register of Trade Mark Agents as a fully-qualified member. You will usually gain your experience at the same time as studying for the exams.
See the ITMA website for more information about qualification and membership.
Where can I go for more information?
Canterbury House2-6 Sydenham Road
Croydon
Surrey
CR0 9XE
Tel: 020 8686 2052
Cardiff Road
Newport
South Wales
NP10 8QQ
Tel: 0845 9 500 505
Alternatively, you can visit our website at: www.direct.gov.uk/careersadvice
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What salary and other benefits can I expect?
- Starting salaries are around £16,000 to £25,000 a year.
- After qualifying, earnings are around £30,000 to £50,000 a year.
- Top salaries can be up to £100,000 a year.
Figures are intended as a guideline only.
What are the hours and working conditions?
Your standard working hours would be 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, with occasional overtime if necessary to meet a deadline.
You would be mainly office-based but may need to travel to meetings. Overseas travel may sometimes be needed.
What skills and knowledge will I need?
- excellent spoken and written communication skills
- good analytical skills
- good negotiating skills
- a high level of accuracy and attention to detail
- a thorough grounding in UK and overseas trade mark law
- a working knowledge of related copyright, patent and competition laws.
What opportunities are there?
Most jobs are with private trade mark practices or firms of patent agents with a department specialising in trade mark work. You could also work for large companies with enough trade mark interests to need their own in-house attorney.
Jobs may be advertised in the national press, on the ITMA website and by specialist legal recruitment agencies.
With experience, you could move into senior management and partnership in a firm.
You may find the following useful for job vacancies and general reading (links open new window):
ITMA Jobs Board
Legal Week
IP Jobs
Totally Legal
We do not accept responsibility for the content of external sites.
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