What is a Trade Mark Attorney?
Trade Mark Attorneys help their clients search for trademarks, file and prosecute trademark applications (including choosing the right goods and services and giving advice on ownership issues), manage portfolios, and enforce rights both in their own country and abroad.
A trademark is a design, symbol, word, or phrase that makes the products of one source stand out from those of others. Along with patents and copyrights, they are one of the most common types of intellectual property. Individuals, companies, and legal entities can all own trademarks. You can trademark a company name, a product name, a logo, a label, a slogan, or even a sound. A Trade Mark Attorney is not a solicitor, but many of them have legal training and are permitted to practise as solicitors if they so desire. In general, the duties of a Trade Mark Attorney are similar to those of a Solicitor who practises in the field of trade marks.
Responsibilities
As a Trade Mark Attorney you will have the following responsibilities:
- Providing legal counsel on trade marks and associated issues (including clearance searches and infringement opinions).
- Constructing and filing trademark applications.
- Responding to trademark application objections, including the preparation and filing of evidence and submissions relevant legal bodies..
- Representing trademark applicants or opponents in opposition procedures before the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in the UK and abroad.
- Preparing trademark agreements, such as settlement or co-existence agreements.
- Taking responsibility for the management, protection, and enforcement of portfolios of intellectual property rights, such as trademarks, copyrights, and design patents.
- Providing guidance on the legal aspects of marketing new products and services, as well as their launch into the market, as well as the expansion of brand recognition.
- Conducting research on new trademarks and providing recommendations on their availability by conducting searches at the national and international levels to determine whether or not the proposed trademark is already in use.
- Drawing out suitable contractual paperwork.
- Keeping an eye on both the current trademark and the proposed ones
- Advising customers on the countries in which they wish to register their business and the method that will achieve this goal at the lowest possible cost.
- Establishing productive working connections with relevant brand managers as well as customers of relevant departments.
- Dealing with the process of renewing trademarks and design registrations.
Salary
The UK national average salary for a Trade Mark Attorney is £58,030, ranging from £37.000 to £90.000.
London based average salary for a Trade Mark Attorney amounts to £59,040, ranging from £37.000 to £93.000.
Working hours and work location
Trade Mark Attorneys often work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Most Trade Mark Attorneys work for intellectual property companies in London and other larger cities like Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds. Trade Mark Attorneys who work in the corporate sector often have a primary office or site from which they operate, although they may be required to make occasional trips to other locations.
What to expect
When you first begin your career as a Trade Mark Attorney, you will most likely begin by working for a company that specialises in intellectual property (IP) work inside a section that is dedicated to Trade Mark Attorneys. You might potentially get employment with a major firm that has a specialised in-house intellectual property department that manages its trademark business.
The following are examples of companies with their own in-house Trade Mark Attorneys:
- National or multinational corporations with an impressive roster of product names under their umbrella.
- Major corporations that manufacture various goods, including automobiles and food – Many businesses offer trademark services to a wide range of clients. However, some businesses focus on helping clients in certain industries, including
- Technology,
- Clothing and accessories
- Food and drink
- Retail
- Pharmaceuticals
Trade Mark Attorneys collaborate with marketing employees to assist clients in selecting new brand names and registering them. Your work as a Trade Mark Attorney may increasingly encompass domain name (website address) dispute concerns. Trademarks can often be confused with design and copyright issues. Trade Mark Attorneys also handle disputes and infringements of their clients’ trade mark rights. Many Trade Mark Attorneys also specialise in industrial designs. Trade Mark Attorneys engage in a high volume of face-to-face and electronic communication with one another, as well as with clients, colleagues, and officials at trademark registries, as well as European and international agencies. The task requires meeting deadlines, which can be difficult at times, especially when given short notice.
As a Trade Mark Attorney, you will give your clients legal and technical advice. You’ll be in charge of looking into certain trademarks to see if they’re in use worldwide, following the steps needed to register new trademarks, and enforcing trademark rights when they’re violated. Your specialised knowledge will also come in helpful when providing contextual assistance and professional counsel in trademark disputes. Your duties will include giving legal advice on trademark registration and protection in numerous jurisdictions and drafting documentation and renewal notices in all jurisdictions where the trademark is registered. Lastly, you may be asked to give legal advice and guidance on licensing, brand recognition, and intellectual property issues.
Qualifications
To become a Trade Mark Attorney, you must first get two years of on-the-job training in trade mark legal practice. You must also join the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (CITMA) and study for two professional qualifications. Most of the time, you need a degree (at least a 2:1) to get into the qualifying process.
Employers value legal degrees, which can get you out of taking a small number of tests to become a Trade Mark Attorney. However, degrees in English, contemporary languages, business, public administration, and the humanities are also acceptable. Many chartered Trade Mark Attorneys, law firms with intellectual property (IP) departments, and big corporations with in-house legal/IP departments hire graduates as trainees and will often pay for your education. You might be able to train to become a Trade Mark Attorney if you have worked as a paralegal, trade mark administrator, or secretary for a long time.
Skills
must have skills:
To become a successful Trade Mark Attorney, you will need to possess or acquire the following skills:
- The ability to work as part of a team
- Attention to detail
- Commercial and cultural awareness
- Self-motivation (as training examinations are very demanding and balancing work, life, and study can be challenging)
- Excellent time management skills to keep to strict deadlines
- An interest in branding and marketing issues
- The ability to work well under pressure
- Excellent time management skills to keep to organisations
- An interest in branding and marketing issues
- A positive and proactive attitude and a willingness to take on board feedback
- The ability to work well under pressure
Work experience
Because this is a niche field, and even major organisations seldom hire more than two graduates each year, competition for positions is fierce.
Participating in legal or marketing-related organisations at your institution will demonstrate to employers your interest in the industry and in branding concerns. Working as a trade mark administrator or paralegal can be a fantastic way to gain useful, relevant experience before becoming a Trade Mark Attorney.
Career prospects
There are fundamentally only three grades in the profession: trainee, part-qualified, and qualified. Although the job titles within the organisational structure differ from one company to the next, there are still only three classes overall. But with the right amount of training and experience, there is a lot of room for professional growth.
Promotion to partnership in private practice, starting your own trademark company, or migrating into a corporate function as an in-house Trade Mark Attorney for commercial organisations operating in various industrial sectors are all options for professional advancement in the domain of Trade Mark Law. People often switch between private practice and work in the business world, and experience in either setting is highly valued. In most cases, private practices are businesses that offer their expertise to various customers. You will be able to get a job with a company that does a lot of work with trademarks, either in corporate practice or in the industry sector.
The pinnacle of success is most likely to become a partner in a company, if not the owner of the business entirely. To go down this path, you’ll need to be interested in and know a little about managing employees and other parts of running a business, like marketing, and know about them. Because markets in the UK and around the world are getting more complicated and there is more competition in many business areas, Trade Mark Attorneys are likely to have more responsibilities and career paths.
Employers
Related Courses
The University of the West of Scotland London offers this two-year, eight-month full-time degree, and students can choose from various start dates. During their time at UWS London, students can talk to industry experts, guest lecturers, and experienced professionals. Students may participate in the UK’s economic hub because this programme is provided on the London Campus, in the country’s capital.
This is a full-time program at the University of the West of Scotland’s London Campus, which is right in the middle of the UK’s business district. Students interested in a career in Trade Mark legislation will benefit from the one-year program, as it will prepare them for work in public and private organisations. This class combines social science and communication.
A one-year foundation degree from the University of the West of Scotland in London will prepare you for undergraduate coursework and build the platform for a career in Trade Mark legislation. You will learn about contemporary research sources in this course and useful case examples. The students’ English language and study abilities will also get a boost as they gain knowledge of crucial business courses. After completing the Business Foundation Programme and gaining the necessary knowledge, you will be well-prepared to enter the undergraduate level with confidence.
