The role
We are looking for individuals who are passionate about intellectual property and the role it plays in a growing business. As a trade mark attorney you should have impeccable language skills, an eye for detail and a sound understanding of commerce and consumer culture.
At Appleyard Lees you will develop persuasive arguments based on your knowledge of the law to ensure clients are always placed in a strategically favourable position. The job is intellectually challenging and is well suited to creative minds and critical thinkers. Many of our attorneys have a legal background and the LPC qualification. An outside interest in science, engineering, technology, marketing, advertising, language or economics will be beneficial.
A trade mark attorney might be expected to work with a client to identify a suitable brand in preparation for a global launch. This means, for example, checking that the same or similar mark does not conflict with one owned by another business and that there are no negative connotations which could cause embarrassment. A trade mark attorney will have a working knowledge of several legal systems around the world and engage with attorneys in those jurisdictions on behalf of clients. A trade mark attorney will monitor the marketplace to ensure the trade mark is not used without authorisation. Where infringements are found, perhaps in the form of counterfeit goods, an attorney will protect brands through litigation and sophisticated anti-counterfeit programmes. An attorney might also draft IP-specific documents in financial and insolvency transactions and advise on trade mark licences, IP valuation and IP securitisation.
You will need to be articulate and good at communicating, particularly in writing. Our work can sometimes be multi-disciplinary and collaborative and so you will need to work with attorneys in other disciplines. For example, our patent litigation team will work in teams of solicitors and specialist patent attorneys, so you will need to have good people skills and be able to work in a team.
You will be trained by our trade marks specialists, and from your first day you will be working on real work for our clients. You will be able to join meetings with business founders and inventors, watch our qualified attorneys when they participate in hearings and trials, and learn from our talented paralegals. As our clients protect their rights across the world, you will gain real experience that is directly relevant to the professional exams you will undertake. Our trainees are given all the support they need to qualify as UK Chartered Trade Mark Attorneys. We combine in-house exam-specific tutorials with external courses, to help our trainees to obtain the knowledge and skills they need to qualify. Trainees are also supervised on their day-to-day work by our experienced and knowledgeable attorneys. Alongside the exam-specific training, we also provide trainees with personal development training in such areas as business skills, effective communication and presentation skills and support through our mentoring scheme.
We currently have around twenty trainee patent and trade mark attorneys at various qualification levels, who share knowledge and advice. Our trainees also organise internal social and sporting activities, such as lunchtime group runs and yoga sessions. On top of this, we offer a generous benefits package. This includes but is not limited to the provision of a Health plan, Life Assurance, Employee Assistance Programme, agile working, interest-free season ticket loans, contributory pension scheme and a cycle to work scheme.
The firm
Appleyard Lees is a leading intellectual property law firm, with over fifty patent and trade mark attorneys, solicitors and litigators. Our offices are located in Halifax, Leeds, Manchester and Cambridge with 19 partners and 120+ staff.
We provide a full range of intellectual property (IP) services covering patents, trade marks, designs and copyright in the UK, Europe and worldwide. We use our technical and legal skills, and many years of experience, to identify and protect IP assets and to uncover and eliminate the risks posed by other people’s IP rights.
Our clients include household brands, tech start-ups and multinational corporations as well as local businesses and SMEs. We have a well-earned reputation for long-standing relationships. We ensure that we understand our clients’ business objectives.
Our clients choose us because we offer the combination of legal expertise and commercial insight whilst taking the time to get to know them.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) has always been part of the core values of Appleyard Lees. This isn’t just about the partners, or how we do things at Appleyard Lees, this is about everyone. Appleyard Lees offers a career path within a structure that encourages development for everyone, and where individuals count.
We welcome the unique contribution that you will bring to our firm and actively encourage applications from all talented people – however your talent is packaged, whatever your background or circumstance and regardless of how you identify.
We are a member of IP Inclusive and many of our people, including trainees, are actively involved in IP Inclusive’s support groups for women and the LGBT+ community. Many of our trainees also participate in outreach activities to raise awareness of the IP professions among young people. We also have a dedicated diversity and inclusion focus group that includes attorneys, trainees, and HR, which is tasked with looking at ways we can continue to improve diversity and inclusion.